Arrow Dark Waters of Destiny
by mjf2468
Summary: Oliver Queen has been attempting to stand up against Darhk. Darhk, however, escalates the fight in a huge way during a holiday campaign party and uses someone Oliver loves against him. Canon up until the party in episode 4 x 9. The team struggles to find a way to defeat Darhk despite overwhelming odds and threats from various sources, including an unknown love child.
1. Chapter 1: Confrontation with Darhk

Summary: A possible telling of events in episode 4 x 9. Spoilers possible from promos. The fight with Darhk escalates during a holiday campaign party. If you don't want to read now, please come back after you watch episode 4 x 9 **.** Warning: referral to major character death.

 **AN: I have been kinda heartbroken, first with the manufactured Olicity obstacle that happened in episode 4 x 8, and then what I saw in the New Zealand promo. I had to write this as a possible explanation, for therapy. As well as I thought it would make one heck of a story besides. Warning: referral to major character death.**

They had been so happy. The holiday party being held in the conference room of Parker Tech was going off without a hitch. Everyone was enjoying themselves, and Felicity was doing okay in her role as informal hostess, if she said so herself. Of course, Thea was also helping, but Felicity's nervousness didn't lessen at all with that detail. However, she was managing to enjoy herself regardless.

The celebratory mood was suddenly interrupted by the entrance of one unexpected guest. Despite the triple security Digg had arranged, Damien Darhk walked into the ballroom, followed by six men wearing HIVE combat gear brandishing machine guns.

The group headed straight to Oliver in the middle of the room, talking with Felicity and several supporters. The soldiers stood at attention, their guns pointing at the partygoers.

Addressing Oliver, holding out his arms in what was meant as a welcoming gesture, Darhk said, "It appears my invitation got lost in the mail."

Pushing down the fear leaping into his throat, Oliver asked in his best Arrow growl, "Why are you here, Darhk?"

"To do this." Darhk raised his arms and suddenly Oliver felt himself being flung backwards through the air into the glass partition behind him.

Oliver found himself on the floor, covered with shattered glass. He shook his head, trying to clear it. Through the haze, he barely registered arms bringing him to a standing position. He attempted to get out of the grip, but was unable to. Instead he found himself being dragged back in front of Darhk.

"I am now going to bring Mr. Queen and Ms. Smoak with us for a little conference. I ask for privacy. Otherwise you will not see them again." Nodding towards Felicity, he commanded, "Bring them!"

Felicity attempted to pull out of the hands now gripping her upper arms, without avail. She found herself being dragged towards the exit with Oliver following with his own set of guards.

They were brought to the basement of the building, where an abandoned laboratory from the applied science days was located.

Oliver watched as Darhk walked across the room to a glass-partitioned area.

"This was where they performed experiments in an oxygen-deficient environment." Nodding his head towards Felicity, Darhk commanded, "Bring her!"

"No!" escaped Oliver's lips as he struggled against the men holding him back. He was powerless while watching them drag Felicity to the airtight chamber. Face white, struggling against Darhk's men, Oliver could only watch as Felicity failed to escape their hold.

"You fight because you have something to live for. Let me take away your reason for living."

Felicity was thrown into the chamber, the door locked. Darhk looked over at Oliver with a gleeful look on his face. "You will now watch as I take away your light."

Darhk nodded at his men. Oliver watched in horror as the man standing by the control panel pulled down a lever. Suddenly, the arms holding him back released their hold, and Oliver stumbled forward but regained his footing. Rushing towards the chamber, his eyes only for Felicity, Oliver pressed his hands against the glass.

He watched in horror as Felicity's eyes widened, her breathing quickened and more labored, and she mouthed the words, "I love you." She slowly sunk to the floor, collapsing in one still, unmoving heap.

Oliver clawed at the glass, trying desperately to get to his love, but it was impossible. He was oblivious as unfriendly arms dragged him away. All he knew was that his place was beside her, no matter what.

In his daze, Oliver didn't register being thrown into a van, a sack thrown over his head, and brought to another location.

He was brought to a jail cell, thrown in without regard, where he ended up on the floor. Oliver didn't register the footsteps fading away and the main door slamming shut behind them.

This was unlike anything he had ever experienced. It was worse than when his mother died. He couldn't function. He didn't register anything happening around him; he laid on the floor for twenty-four hours. They brought meals to him, leaving them on the floor just inside the cell door. Oliver ignored them, and the food, and everything else. Damien Darhk had managed to do what no one else had, not Waller, Wilson, or al Ghul...break the spirit of one Oliver Queen.

They came to get him a day after she died. After he watched her try to take a breath, looking at him with desperation in her eyes, begging him to somehow help her. And the only thing he could do was watch her die.

Again, since he wasn't capable of walking on his own, he was dragged down a long hallway. Again he didn't register his surroundings, and when he was thrown into a room, he didn't notice anyone else. He again laid on the floor where he had landed. Not moving. Until he heard it.

But he couldn't have heard it. He wasn't going to be able to ever hear it again. It was impossible.

However, there it was. Her voice, speaking his name. And her arms around him as she knelt down beside him.

He must be dreaming. Or in a nightmare. But it felt so good, to be in her arms again, receiving her kisses. He didn't care. He missed her so much.

"Oliver, Oliver! Speak to me. What is the matter with you? Did Darhk do something terrible to you? What kind of torture did he use to render you speechless like this?"

He suddenly realized, it was truly his Felicity. Alive, well, and babbling her usual babble. He could barely take it in. Then he sensed someone entering the room.

"Well, Mr. Queen. I hope you now understand completely what I am capable of. What your continued insubordination could mean."

Looking up at Felicity, Oliver mumbled, "I thought he killed you."

"No, I was only unconscious."

Darhk approached the couple. He pointed his hand at Oliver and slowly raised it towards the ceiling. Oliver felt himself being lifted up into a standing position and brought against the wall. He then was elevated off the floor, his toes barely touching, held firmly in place against the stucco.

Oliver watched as the man approached him. Darhk looked straight in his eyes, commanding Oliver's complete attention. "I repeat, Mr. Queen, have I made myself clear? Have I communicated to you the futility of further resistance?"

After not speaking, his voice scratchy, Oliver forced out his reply, "Yes."

Darhk dropped his hand and Oliver felt himself collapse onto the floor, seemingly released like a puppet cut from its strings. Felicity rushed to his side.

"You both are now free to return to your home. Mr. Queen, I will be in contact with you soon to discuss how our new partnership will work."

The confused couple watched as Darhk left the room, leaving the door open. His soldiers fell in line behind him and left without a further glance at their former prisoners.

"Well, that's a fine howdy-do. We don't know where we are and we have no transportation and no cell phone," Felicity said in a huff.

In spite of everything, Oliver found himself smiling slightly at another of his love's quirky statements. He could barely take it all in. It had all been a lie, Felicity dying in front of him. But, oh what a mess they were now in.

As Oliver struggled to sit up, Felicity said, "I guess we now know what Darhk is up to."

"Yep, total domination of Star City."

"And you. What are we going to do now? What exactly did he mean about a new partnership?"

Oliver shook his head, his lips forming a grim line. "I don't know, Felicity. I shudder to even start thinking of the possibilities."

"Well, you just can't agree with him, Oliver."

Oliver looked at her with sadness in his eyes. "What else can we do? He almost killed you. It was a message loud and clear to me." He lowered his head and said softly, "I can't oppose him, Felicity. I can't lose you. I'm sure it would be for real the next time."

Felicity closed her eyes, squeezing them tight. She let out a heavy sigh. "Let's talk about this later. Let's get home so everyone can stop worrying about us."

 **AN: We shall see how accurate I am with guessing how it all occurs on Wednesday. Or else this is the beginning of an AU. Like I did for last year's mid-season finale. Which I swore I wouldn't do again. Sigh, what can you do if your Muse refuses to leave you alone? So stay tuned for what happens next. (I know I probably should've worked on this more, but I really wanted to post it before the episode airs).**

And if you really want to make the Muse happy, leave a review. Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2: Reuniting with the Team

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this.

 **AN:** **Well, as we who have watched the mid-season opener know, this story is definitely AU from the moment of the Christmas (oops, Holiday) party. Guess I was wrong but I knew Felicity wasn't going to die in that episode. I had difficulty coming up with this chapter, having decided to continue this as AU, but it finally came together. Hope you enjoy this very different AU from the show.**

Previously:

 _"Well, you just can't agree with him, Oliver."_

 _Oliver looked at her with sadness in his eyes. "What else can we do? He almost killed you. It was a message loud and clear to me." He lowered his head and said softly, "I can't oppose him, Felicity. I can't lose you. I'm sure it would be for real the next time."_

 _Felicity closed her eyes, squeezing them tight. She let out a heavy sigh. "Let's talk about this later. Let's get home so everyone can stop worrying about us."_

Despite Darhk's statement about allowing them to leave, Felicity knew Oliver would remain vigilant, looking for possible threats as they left the building. Oliver's eyes darted everywhere as they slowly made their way out of the room and down a darkened hallway. At the end of it, Oliver put out his hand, stopping Felicity. He backed into the wall and slowly looked around the corner. Capturing her hand, Oliver led her down another hallway. Felicity attempted to help by keeping her eyes out as well as her ears. No sounds were present. She couldn't see any hints as to Darhk's possible future plans. Actually no sign of anyone still in the building. Nothing was left to even suggest Darhk had ever been in the building in the first place. _He probably won't be returning here anyway._

They proceeded through the winding halls and found an outside door without observing any signs of any other people present. Unsurprisingly, at least to Felicity, the neighborhood they found themselves in once they were outside was part of the Glades.

"Stereotypical, an old warehouse." Felicity shook herself at her continued inability to control what came out of her mouth sometimes.

Oliver smiled at her again. Felicity immediately felt better. _I wish I could bottle that smile and sell it. I would become a millionaire myself._

"Luckily we can get a taxi from here," Oliver said. Felicity knew better. It wasn't quite as easy as Mr. "Millionaire from birth" seemed to think. And she was right. But eventually they were able to flag a taxi down and make their way home.

The moment they walked through the door, Felicity headed to the desk and pulled out one of their burner phones out of their "stash" they kept for emergencies. "I hope someone found our phones. Remind me to ask Diggle, for he probably took care of it. I wonder what they thought. I wonder what happened after we were taken away…"

"Felicity!" She stopped her babble mid-thought and met Oliver's eyes, startled by the loud volume of his voice. Oliver gave himself a slight shake and said in a softer tone, "Please call Digg."

"Oh, right." Felicity was thankful Oliver had stopped her babble and dialed Digg's number. "Hi Digg, it's me...Yes, Oliver and I are at the loft... Darhk finally let us go."

She pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at it in disgust. "He's on his way over, but he hung up on me." Muttering to herself, Felicity said, "How rude!" Realizing she had said that out loud, she then said, "Oh, now I sound like that cute little girl on 'Full House'."

The phone rang. Felicity jumped. "Oh, hi Thea. How'd you….oh, yeah. You're all on your way over? That's good. We have a lot to discuss."

She disconnected the call. In answer to Oliver's inquiring look, she said, "Digg handed Thea his phone and she redialed the number. They're on their way here."

Oliver leveled his shoulders and got a determined look on his face. "We will get through this, Felicity." After she nodded and attempted to give him a brave smile, Oliver asked, "Were they all at the lair, or didn't Thea say?"

"Yeah, they're all at the lair. I suppose brain-storming how to find us, I suppose."

Felicity inwardly gave a huge sigh. She knew they were facing an uphill battle. Not only against Darhk, the strangest and most formidable of foes they'd ever encountered, they also will have to battle Oliver's overgrown tendency of making everything his fault. Felicity could only hope he'd had enough personal growth to battle and control that tendency. Time would only tell.

~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~

Their loved ones descended upon them in a quiet flurry of activity and didn't waste a second in getting to the point. They peppered the strained air with a constant stream of questions.

"What happened to you guys?"

"Why did he let you go?"

"We were so worried about you, and we couldn't find you anywhere."

Diggle approached them and handed Oliver his cell phone, then Felicity hers.

"Oh good!" Felicity hurriedly checked hers out. Nothing appeared out of place or had been tampered with. "Whew, all seems fine." Turning towards Oliver, she swiped his phone out of his hands. "Let me check yours quick." Oliver glared at her.

"Hey, I checked them out already," Digg said.

"Well, I just feel better checking them out myself."

Diggle rolled his eyes. "Ok, now that's been addressed...what happened to you two?"

Oliver and Felicity exchanged looks, and Felicity nodded slightly. Oliver took a breath. "Well, first Darhk made me think he had killed Felicity in front of me within an oxygen-depleted environment."

"What?" their loved ones asked in unison.

"After a day of hell, I was then brought to a room where, to my shock, Felicity was alive. Darhk then stated we were now in a 'new partnership' and that he will soon be contacting me with more details."

"What?" Diggle asked, looking at Laurel with a question clearly on his face.

"Yeah, and Oliver didn't say or do anything," Felicity mumbled.

Oliver leaned back and fixed Felicity a stern look. "I told you why I didn't. At least at the time I had to appear as though I was agreeing with him." Oliver made eye contact with the others. "Not to mention, at the time, he somehow had me suspended against a wall, in mid-air, without touching me. I couldn't battle magic without my suit or bow. And, besides…."

Thea said softly, "Next time, he will kill Felicity for real."

Oliver kinked his head toward Thea and said to Felicity, "See? Exactly." He sighed and said, "We have to get a handle on these powers Darhk has before he suspects I'm not really working with him." He ran his fingers through his short hair. "What type of powers he has, what it all means, and how to beat them." Taking a deep breath he held Diggle's eyes. "I had some experience with this sort of thing...on the island. But it certainly wasn't extensive."

"Man, Oliver, I'm beginning to wonder what, if anything, you didn't encounter on that damned island," Diggle said. "But Oliver, you really cannot be serious about this working with Darhk." He paused to look at Felicity. "Even a little. Even as a pretense." He shook his head. "It didn't go so well the last time you tried to pretend to work with a criminal."

Oliver shrugged, his well-known look of helplessness crossed his face. "At the moment, I have no other plan, Digg. Of course I'm not happy with it. If anyone can come up with a different one, be my guest. But we have to be very careful about this. I don't know if we can carry this off. I'm not even sure how Lance has successfully carried out his deception for so long."

"You got any idea yet about how we do this?" Diggle asked.

Oliver sighed. "No, not yet. We kinda have to wait and see what exactly Darhk has planned. What he wants me to do. What he expects from this so-called relationship."

Diggle thought for a moment. "You said he had you up against the wall without touching you?" His well-known skepticism of anything mystical or unusual was apparent.

"Yeah, another example of his 'mystical' ability. We haven't even had a chance to really explore this. Or how to combat those powers." He shook his head. "I, for one, am getting tired of how he does that."

"Yeah, he has tried to choke you three times already," Diggle said.

"Four, but who's counting," Felicity mumbled.

"Oh, and there are a few things we need to update you on," Diggle said.

Because of his tone, Oliver and Felicity looked at each other and asked simultaneously, "What's up?"

After a pause, Diggle said, "You now have an opponent in the mayoral race."

"What?" Oliver exchanged another look with Felicity. "Who is it?"

Thea said, "A woman named Ruve Adams."

Felicity scratched her head and reached for her tablet. "I've never heard of her."

"As far as we have gathered so far, no one really has. She claims to have moved here six months ago and has now decided to enter the race due to the lack of progress she has seen for the city getting back on its feet."

"What?"

"Isn't there a residency requirement of at least a year?" Felicity asked.

"She apparently asked for an exception and, due to the recent developments, it was approved." Laurel turned to Felicity. "Find anything yet? We tried but were unsuccessful."

"Nothing much. It says here she is married. But not finding out anything about her husband."

"How come?"

"It says here he is a reclusive millionaire, who spends much of his time in Europe overseeing his various holdings." Felicity's eyes crinkled as she considered the information. "He always sends a representative to any business interactions, and he gets away with it because he's so rich."

"Does it at least give us a name?"

"Andrew Adams. Not finding anything about him though." Felicity flew over to her laptop and powered it up. "I'm going to start some searches of European websites. It might take a little while though."

"Have you heard of him at all, Oliver?" Laurel asked.

Oliver shook his head. "No. He really must be a recluse."

Diggle stroked his chin. "Oliver, if you are still serious about your mayoral bid, you better call Alex right now."

Oliver looked at Felicity, who nodded. "I'll keep searching for ideas on all our spinning plates. You go strategize how to become the next mayor."

Oliver got up, leaned over and kissed Felicity. "I cannot tell you how happy I am I can still do that," he whispered.

"Me too."

Oliver looked at the others. "Why don't the rest of you go to the Lair? That way Felicity can use all her computers." He sighed. "I'll be there as soon as I can after dealing with all the political stuff."

~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~

As Oliver and Diggle left, Felicity distracted herself from worrying by burying herself in her searches. Tracking down the mysterious Andrew Adams was proving to be a very curious task indeed, made more difficult with him being European. Or...supposedly European.

Laurel and Thea had first attempted to engage Felicity in conversation. Laurel wanted to make sure they were really okay, while Thea wanted to get more details about how her brother handled thinking Felicity was dead. However, Felicity uncharacteristically stopped them and said she needed to concentrate on something else at the moment. The other two women were taken aback by Felicity's abrupt response, but decided to give her some space.

Suddenly Felicity let out a shriek. Thea stopped herself mid-strike, caught Laurel's eyes, and they both rushed to Felicity's side. Their eyes widened at sight in front of them.

"'Andrew Adams made an unusual visit to a children's hospital, accompanied by his wife and daughter. '" Thea stopped reading and looked at the others. "Is that who I think it is?"

On the screen was a large picture of Darhk with Ruve and a girl who appeared to be eight years old.

 **AN: Thanks again for reading! Hope you liked this. I had to come up with a different way for Team Arrow to find out Ruve is Darhk's wife. Can you believe how scary evil she was in episode 4 x 12 in just talking to the Green Arrow? I think there's definitely more to her...I better not say what I think, for I might just incorporate that into this story as well. Hope to see you again next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3: A Surprise Twist

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this.

 **AN:** **Hey, thanks for returning to this AU story about the Arrow team battling Darhk. Hope you enjoy this new chapter.**

Previously:

 _Suddenly Felicity let out a shriek. Thea stopped herself mid-strike, caught Laurel's eyes, and they both rushed to Felicity's side. Their eyes widened at sight in front of them._

 _"'Andrew Adams made an unusual visit to a children's hospital, accompanied by his wife and daughter. '" Thea stopped reading and looked at the others. "Is that who I think it is?"_

 _On the screen was a large picture of Darhk with Ruve and a girl who appeared to be eight years old._

Laurel answered, her face grim. "We really shouldn't be surprised. Of course, knowing our luck, why wouldn't Oliver's new opponent be married to Damien Darhk?"

"What is Darhk's game plan anyway?" Felicity pushed back an escaped curl away from her forehead. "And why can't we figure it out?" She sat back in her chair. "If he has Oliver in his pocket, and Oliver becomes mayor, why have your wife run?"

Thea began to pace behind the desk. "I don't know, but I don't like it. Also, first he tries to destroy the city, now supposedly he's trying to save it?"

"Whoever knows what these evil power-hungry villains want?" Felicity again pushed away the stubborn hair from her face. "I suppose he decided he doesn't trust Oliver as mayor. Or maybe…oh, I don't know. We need more intel to figure this out."

"You should call Ollie and tell him about this," Thea said.

Felicity nodded and grabbed her phone.

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~

Oliver was attempting to get his mind back into the game of politics but was finding it difficult. He was desperately fighting an overwhelming sense of doom. Darhk was an enemy of the type he hadn't fought before. The closest would be Baron Reiter, from his time on the island, and suddenly he realized there were too many similarities to be coincidental. Oliver made a mental note to get Felicity investigating Reiter's whereabouts, as he brought his mind back to what Alex was currently saying to him.

"Your opponent wants to schedule a debate as soon as possible. She really is pushing for a quick election. City Hall is considering her request."

"I wonder what's her hurry?"

Oliver's phone rings. "It's Felicity," he tells them as he walks away and answers the call. "What's up?"

Oliver's face displays several different expressions, first his eyebrows furrowed, then his eyes open wide. "Thanks, Felicity. Talk later. Love you."

"What's up?" Diggle asked, worried about the strange look on his friend's face.

"We may now know Ruve is in such a hurry. Felicity found out who she's married to."

Alex whistled. "Whoa, your woman has skills. We've been trying to find out without any luck."

Oliver met Diggle's eyes. "It's Damien Darhk."

Alex rose to his feet. "Isn't that the man who..."

"Who crashed our party and kidnapped Felicity and me?" Oliver gave out a disgusted sigh. "Yes Alex, it is."

Diggle ran his hands through his close-cropped hair. "Man, I didn't expect that." He met Oliver's eyes with a look Oliver knew matched his, one of shock.

"Me neither."

Alex looked at his watch. "Oh. I better get going. I'm going to start checking on this new intel, and set up the debate." He stopped as an idea crashed into his mind. " _Should_ we proceed with the debate, with what we now know?"

"Until we come up with another idea, yes, Alex, set up the debate."

"Okay, I'll be in touch." Oliver and Diggle watched Alex hurry off.

When the door closed behind Alex, Diggle looked at Oliver. "So, now what?"

"Hell if I know Dig. None of this makes any sense. Unless part of it is a smokescreen to throw us off somehow."

"If that's the case, it's doing a hell of a job, that's for sure," Diggle shrugged as he got up and began to pace. "I also can't think of anything. Surely didn't expect Ruve to be Mrs. Darhk."

Oliver couldn't agree more.

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~

They were given two days to prepare for the debate. It was difficult to balance what they had to do for the campaign with continuing the patrolling of the streets.

Oliver felt the most prepared he ever had for anything in his life. He had run through all possible scenarios with Alex, and Thea had worked up great answers for all possible questions.

The debate went according to plan. A small troubling thought kept floating up to the front of Oliver's mind that the debate was going too well. Ruve had even stumbled over several of her answers, appearing less and less confident as the debate went on, which was unusual behavior for her.

As they neared the end, Oliver pulled out the coup de grace.

"I think, Ms. Adams, the voters deserve to know exactly what type of person is running for mayor. They will be interested to know..."

Suddenly the picture behind the candidates changed. Instead of showing the two candidates, a young boy was shown next to Oliver. A boy who clearly showed a strong resemblance to the man standing next to him. Before Oliver could finish his comment, loud gasps rose from the audience. Ruve Adams spoke.

"I agree, Mr. Queen. The voters deserve full disclosure. I don't like to interrupt you, but I feel it's important for them to know the existence of your love child. A child not even your fiancée knows about. How is that for transparency, Mr. Queen?"

Oliver could only look stunned as he froze, unable to take his eyes off the screen. Some coherent thought broke through and he turned to the backstage, his eyes searching for the one individual whose reaction frightened him the most.

Felicity returned his gaze, her mind stalling while Ruve's words repeated in her head on a constant loop. Suddenly her mind couldn't take the significance of what had just been revealed. She turned around and rushed out of Oliver's sight.

"Well, Mr. Queen, what is your statement now?" his opponent asked in a deceptively sugary-sweet tone.

Oliver was barely able to pull his jumbled brain together to consider what to do next. Luckily Alex leaped to the podium and grabbed the microphone from the moderator. "Mr. Queen doesn't have a statement at this time regarding the legitimacy of this photo or what relationship he has with the unknown boy." As Ruve was about to say something, Alex added, "We will release a statement only after we investigate the facts of this situation. The debate is now over, for I doubt a civil exchange would be possible at this time, with such a rude introduction of a topic." He then grabbed a still speechless Oliver by the arm and dragged him offstage.

Oliver's first priority was locating Felicity. He grabbed a stage hand rushing by to ask her location.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Queen, she left. She didn't say where she was going."

Diggle caught up to Oliver and placed a hand on his arm. "I'm sure she's heading home, Oliver."

"Home? You mean, our apartment where I've been lying to her for the past three months?"

Alex interrupted them. "What the hell, Oliver? What just happened?"

Oliver looked at his campaign manager with desperation in his eyes. "Alex, I need to talk to Felicity right away before I talk to anyone else. Please understand. I will explain everything to you tomorrow."

Alex shook his head, his expression solemn. "I'm not sure you'll have a campaign left by tomorrow, but…give me a call as soon as possible tomorrow morning, okay?"

As Alex left, Diggle turned to Oliver. "I suppose I'll have to wait until tomorrow for an explanation as well?"

Oliver looked at Diggle, silently begging his friend to understand. "Please, Dig, I'll explain after I talk to Felicity. Short answer is, I only found out about the boy in December. Because my own mother paid the boy's mother to lie to me, to tell me she had miscarried our baby. She then left my life, and I didn't have any other contact with her. Until December."

As Diggle opened his mouth, Oliver added, "Please, Dig, let me go see if I can salvage my relationship. I promise, I'll explain more tomorrow."

Diggle nodded, a solemn look in his eyes. "Okay, good luck. Let me know if there's anything I can do."

As Oliver ran off, Diggle could only stare after him, wondering what had happened and marveled how quickly things could change. He didn't envy Oliver at all, having to deal with one ferocious petite blonde.

 **AN: Yeah, I really thought this was how the show was going to handle the reveal of William. I would've bet on it. I was wrong, again. Ha. I was very pleasantly surprised as well, because I thought it was a little clichéd. But….I also thought it was too good to pass it by, so I decided to use it in this very AU story anyway. Hope you enjoyed it as well. And I apologize for this chapter being shorter than usual. The next chapter will be longer than usual to make up for it.**


	4. Chapter 4: We have to talk

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this.

 **AN: This chapter is, I suppose, a filler. But I think important, in that Olicity is having a discussion. Hope you enjoy it…. or maybe "enjoy" is not the correct word, since there is angst. I do hope you let me know what you think, always appreciated. I guess this is how I wanted Olicity's conversation to go on the show about William.**

Previously:

 _As Alex left, Diggle turned to Oliver. "I suppose I'll have to wait until tomorrow for an explanation as well?"_

 _Oliver looked at Diggle, silently begging his friend to understand. "Please, Dig, I'll explain after I talk to Felicity. Short answer is, I only found out about the boy in December. Because my own mother paid the boy's mother to lie to me, to tell me she had miscarried. She then left my life, and I didn't have any other contact with her. Until December."_

 _As Diggle opened his mouth, Oliver added, "Please, Dig, let me go see if I can salvage my relationship. I promise, I'll explain more tomorrow."_

 _Diggle nodded, a solemn look in his eyes. "Okay, good luck. Let me know if there's anything I can do."_

 _As Oliver ran off, Diggle could only stare after him, wondering what had happened and marveled how quickly things could change. He didn't envy Oliver at all, having to deal with one ferocious petite blonde._

Riding his cycle home, Oliver repeatedly attempted to get Felicity on the phone. Each time the call went straight to voicemail. Once he had arrived at their apartment, he quickly parked his cycle and ran into the apartment. Upon entering, he momentarily stopped and looked around in stunned silence. All he could see of Felicity were her belongings, including her coat, purse, and briefcase, strewn from the floor by the door to all over the sofa, which was uncharacteristic for her. No other sign of her. Oliver debated whether to call out or just go up to the bedroom. Before he decided, she appeared at the top of the staircase, holding two suitcases.

His heart in his throat, Oliver took in a ragged breath. Attempting to quiet his heart, he swallowed before saying, "Please, Felicity, don't leave." Pinching his eyes shut, he opened them up again and looked her in the eye. "I'm begging you. Please don't go."

Felicity's shoulders rose and fell with her taking in a deep breath. Oliver could sense her hesitation, but in the next moment he could see her regain her determination, grip the handles of the suitcases tighter, and walked down the stairs. Without another look at him, she headed for the door.

"After all we have gone through, don't I get a chance to explain?" Oliver asked in a low voice, unable to hide his heartbreak.

Whipping around in her characteristically quick fashion, Felicity's 'loud voice' came through. "A chance? To explain? You, you will explain? That's rich. If you ever would be able to explain anything without using the phrase 'it's complicated', I would be very surprised."

Oliver pressed his lips together. He couldn't defend himself against the truth of that statement. He did use the phrase 'it's complicated' way too much to describe his life. However, this time…this time he wasn't going to let it interfere with his life.

"Felicity, please let me explain anyway…"

"Why should I, Oliver? I thought you were past this…this need to isolate yourself in order to handle some earth-shattering crisis. You were doing so well including me in every aspect of your life. I know it's been difficult for you, but you've been doing it. We were a team. Why didn't you tell me?"

"You don't know the whole story. Please, Felicity. Sit down and let's discuss it. I'll explain myself. I had a very good reason for not telling you."

Felicity considered his words, and with a determined air she pointedly placed the suitcases down beside the door, turned around, and took a seat on the couch without looking once at Oliver. Oliver sighed and followed her, choosing to sit in the armchair opposite the couch.

Sitting ramrod straight, Felicity fixed a cold stare upon him. "Well?"

"The story begins about three months before I left to go on the yacht."

"That far back?" Pausing, her mind-mouth filter failed once again. "Oh, I suppose, since the boy did look like he was seven or eight, years old or so."

"Yes, about nine years ago." Oliver paused, swallowed hard, and continued. "One weekend, I was in Central City with some of my friends. We, uh, we were there to check out the college there, for I was in between colleges and needed a new one. Again. Things got a little crazy, and…uh…"

"I gather you met a girl."

Oliver had the decency to lower his eyes. "Yes. Even though I was dating Laurel at the time. I made a decision that, because I thought no one would ever know, I…I spent some time with this girl named Samantha."

Felicity looked at Oliver with little expression on her face. The coldness in her eyes as she waited for him to continue terrified Oliver. "Uh, three months later, she calls me. Tells me she's pregnant. Tells me I'm undoubtedly the father. I didn't know what to do."

"I suppose," came Felicity's emotionless reply.

"I told my mother. She said we would get through this. Several days later, Samantha calls again to tell me that she lost the baby and was staying in Central City."

"You must have been relieved."

"Strangely enough, I was, and I wasn't. I knew it was for the best, but there was a part of me who had already imagined what being a father would be like, teaching my son football, going to his school events, all the things a father and son would do."

"After that scare, you still took Sara with you on the yacht."

Oliver sighed deeply. "Are you seriously questioning the illogic of my depraved playboy years right now? You know I have nothing to be proud of during those years, and I certainly don't have any excuse regarding my behavior in getting on the yacht with Sara." Blowing out a puff of air, he said, "Yes, I still continued my playboy behavior despite the scare. Or, who knows, perhaps because of it."

Felicity said, "So, what does this have to do with that little boy now?"

"Samantha never lost the baby. Instead, my mother, my very own mother, had met with Samantha and offered her two million dollars to tell me she lost the baby and never talk to me again. Because of my mother, I never knew I had a son."

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Felicity turned pink and slapped her hand over her mouth. For the first time since this all began, Oliver saw some sympathy in her eyes. "I'm sorry Oliver. I shouldn't have said that." Felicity shook her head. "So…you found out that your mother lied to you once again. What…"

"Going back to the beginning, when we were in Central City in December, Barry and I were at Central Perk. This young boy ran into me and dropped his toy. I picked it up, handed it back to him, and watched him run off to someone. I look, and it was Samantha."

"And you did the math…"

"And figured I had to find out. The next day, in between battling Savage, I visited Samantha. She of course first denied I was William's father. However…"

"However, you badgered her like you always do until she admitted it."

"I don't badger."

"Yes, you do. Go on."

"She finally admitted William was my son, and she told me about my mother and the checks. She then talked about how the only way she'd allow me any access to William was if no one, and I mean no one, found out he was my son. Not you, not even William."

Felicity crinkled her eyes in confusion. "Why would you ever, ever agree to something like that?"

Oliver stood up, ran his hands through his hair, and began to pace. "I don't know. I didn't know what to do. My head was spinning, with my mother's betrayal once again, her lies, and my worry about Savage." He stopped pacing and caught Felicity's gaze. "I panicked. All I could think about was what you were going to think."

"But why, Oliver? Why would I be upset about this? We weren't together at the time, I know about your playboy past, and it wasn't your fault William had been kept from you."

Oliver turned and began to pace again, now avoiding Felicity's eyes. "I've been so worried about losing you, and I thought we were doing so well. Too well."

"You were looking for an excuse for something to go wrong, and you thought this would be it?"

"I don't know. I can't explain it, but with everything going on, hitting me at all sides, I shut down."

"And you defaulted to your old coping mechanisms. Isolating yourself, not confiding in anyone. Depending only upon yourself."

"No one has ever known me as well as you do."

"Now is not the time for flattery. But yes, I do know you very well, Oliver Jonas Queen. At least…I thought I did before this." Felicity sighed. "Can you at least explain to me why you didn't think you could simply take Samantha to court to get at least shared custody or visitation rights?"

Oliver shrugged, turning to Felicity with his trademark "helpless" look on his face. He shook his head and said, "I don't know. Like you said, I defaulted to my old coping mechanisms, acting without thinking." Oliver paused, then said, "I have spent the months attempting to convince Samantha to allow me to tell you, but I haven't been successful." Oliver shrugged. "I think it's because I don't want to put either William or Samantha through the stress of legal proceedings." He looked down at his feet. "I also didn't want my playboy past splashed once again in the headlines. Not when I felt I had come so far."

"Do you realize how much it hurts me that you didn't think once about coming to me, to discuss this? That you made, on your own, a major decision affecting both of us, our life together, and you don't see what's wrong with that? Instead, you were more worried about people you've only known for the past four months?"

Oliver stopped and whirled around. "Don't you dare say I didn't realize how much I was threatening our relationship. Practically every moment of every day it's been on my mind, wondering how I can fix this. As time went on, it became even more difficult. Then all of this happened with Darhk, and I didn't know what to do."

Felicity was taken aback by the suddenness and sharpness of Oliver's reply. She released her own anger at the man in front of her. "You knew, with what I told you about my father, and then because of that recent encounter with him, I have my own trust issues. How exactly were you hoping I would react to hearing this news?"

Anger replaced fear as he looked her in the eye and said, "I don't know what I would've done if you'd broken up with me when I needed to stay sharp for our fight with Darhk." He paused, then continued. "Again, I'm so very sorry. I made a very bad decision. I know, I have a long history of making bad decisions. I had thought, with my working on it, I'd have left all that behind. But I'm only human, and I make mistakes. I never wanted to hurt you. I never not wanted to have a partnership in every way with you. You know how much I love you."

Felicity looked down at her hands in her lap, the knuckles white with them being clenched into fists. Squeezing her eyes shut, she willed the tears beginning to form to disappear. She opened them and looked directly at the man in front of her. Fatigue had begun to show in the start of bags under her eyes.

Before she could reply, Oliver said, "If you don't want to discuss it any further tonight, let's put it away and try to get some rest. But, please stay. I…I will sleep on the couch, if you want. Just please don't leave."

"Oliver, do you realize, do you fully get what I am trying to explain? That you still have that damned default mechanism to shut everyone else out when you feel threatened, when your world collapses? But that's _exactly_ when a person needs to go to the one they supposedly love, their partner, to get them through the situation. I don't know if I believe you'll ever be capable of doing that in a relationship." In a quieter tone she added, "I need that. I need that type of relationship, and I refuse to not have that."

Oliver looked at her with the unhappiest look she'd ever seen in those beautiful blue eyes, even worse than when his mother died. He whispered, "What are you saying? Are you saying we're…that we're through?"

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

Felicity's heart broke. Of course she still loved this man. She couldn't just shut that off, even though her heart was broken in a million pieces. Even though she was angrier at him than she'd ever been, angrier than she'd ever been with anyone else. Not even her father, not even Cooper. She had thought Oliver was different from those other two men who had failed her. She had let down all her defenses, she had thrown herself into this relationship with everything she had, at the risk of losing herself in him, only to find out…what? That the man didn't value her as much as she did him? That she could not, despite everything, she couldn't have the relationship she so desperately wanted and needed with him?

"I don't know Oliver. I thought what we began to build in Ivy City was real."

"It _was_ real. It _is_ real."

"How can you say that after lying to me?"

"I didn't lie to you."

"Actually you did, Oliver. Every time you went to Central City to see your son and you didn't tell me about it, you lied to me."

Oliver looked down at his feet. Felicity watched as several undecipherable expressions crossed his face at lightning speed.

"You can't say I'm wrong."

"No, you're right. You're always right." Oliver looked directly at her, as if he was looking deep into her soul. "Except this time if you say we cannot be together. I refuse to believe that. I love you with my whole being. I know I'm not perfect…"

"No one is, but that's not my point. My point is, whether I can live with a man, supposedly build a life with such a man, who isn't as invested in our relationship as I am. Who I'd constantly wonder what type of crisis would end up with him again deserting me, making decisions without me. Waiting for that next crisis to occur, leaving me high and dry. Yet again. I thought you had learned from the entire mess with Malcolm." She hated bringing up the horrid memories of Oliver choosing to work with Malcolm to defeat Ra's last year instead of trusting her and Diggle.

Oliver gave a nosy sigh. "I have. I can't tell you how many times over the past months where I had to consciously choose to act in a different way. I…I didn't run away. I didn't give into my first reaction to isolate myself…"

"But Oliver, _why_ do you still have that reaction?"

"Felicity, I know I'm broken, okay? You know that. I warned you about that. You said you didn't care, you said you'd be there with me to work it out."

"But only if _you_ are there as well. You have to let me in. You can't keep shutting me out."

"Will you give me a chance to prove it to you, to rebuild your trust in me? Diggle did that, and that's how we rebuilt our relationship."

Felicity gave out a nosy sigh of her own and looked across the room out the window. "I don't know, Oliver. I'm just too tired to think any more tonight. I'm going to go back upstairs and sleep up there. I hope you understand if I take your offer for you to sleep on the couch."

A small smile broke out across Oliver's face showing his relief she was staying. He nodded. Swallowing deeply, he stuttered out, "Thank you, Felicity. Whatever it takes. Whatever you want. Just give me a chance."

Felicity nodded, went to her bags at the door, and picked them up. Shoulders slightly slouching, head down, she made her way up the stairs. Oliver watched her until she disappeared from his sight. He closed his eyes, lowered his head, and pinched the bridge of his nose. Sighing, he turned back to the couch.

 **AN: One difference with canon, I changed how Samantha interacted with Oliver. I decided, for the sake of brevity, to get rid of the whole 'testing the hair' mess and her attempts at denial. And I guess this chapter is my attempt to fix the whole William debacle in general, and to understand Felicity's anger with Oliver. I have been having so much trouble seeing her reaction on the show to be truly realistic. Not sure if it is only because I have such a crush on Oliver, or that I think they belong together. It just seems to me that I'm not convinced the reasons for the breakup truly rang true. Well, I also still haven't exactly accepted her reasons for their "breakup" when he had returned post episode 3 x 9. I may not always agree with how a story goes, but if it is presented within a logical framework, I accept it. If not, I have trouble with it. And if it's only just to add drama…. I hate it. (Now just my venting here, thank you for listening. No need to respond to my venting, ha). Hope you will return for the next chapter as well. And thanks for leaving a review!**


	5. Chapter 5: An Awkward Morning and Sam

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this.

 **AN: Thank you so very much for returning to this AU story. Still not sure how it will all go, but we shall see how much canon I include in it, with any necessary changes to add it to my story. Just to let you know, I will NOT kill off Laurel in this story. Olicity** ** _probably_** **will be reunited, and their romance will again become a minor issue in the story. If you feel otherwise, I hope to convince you with how the story goes. But we shall see. I mainly want to keep focusing on defeating Darhk, and we shall see how much different I can make this from canon. But I felt I had to have them work out the whole William debacle. Hope you continue to read this story, and enjoy this chapter. Thanks as always to all those who have reviewed, favorited and following this story.**

Previously:

 _Felicity gave out a nosy sigh of her own and looked across the room out the window. "I don't know, Oliver. I'm just too tired to think any more tonight. I'm going to go back upstairs and sleep up there tonight. I hope you understand if I take up your offer for you to sleep on the couch."_

 _A small smile broke out across Oliver's face. He nodded. Swallowing deeply, he stuttered out, "Thank you, Felicity. Whatever it takes. Whatever you want. Just give me a chance."_

 _Felicity nodded, went to her bags at the door, picked them up. Shoulders slightly slouching, head down, she made her way up the stairs. Oliver watched her until she disappeared from his sight. He closed his eyes, lowered his head, and pinched the bridge of his nose._

After making a pitiful bed of blankets on the couch, Oliver spent most of the night tossing and turning. In between nightmares and troubling thoughts, he did manage an hour of sleep here and there, despite what he could on a couch on which he couldn't stretch out comfortably.

At six AM he decided to give up trying. However, he hated to enter "their" bedroom for a change of clothes. He really didn't want to disturb Felicity, especially in case she had also spent the night not sleeping. Despite his misgivings, he really needed a jog, and thus a change of clothes, so he squared his shoulders and climbed the stairs to the second floor.

He entered their bedroom as quietly as he could, and breathed a sigh of relief as he observed a blond mess of curls snuggled partially under the blankets. Part of his heart resented her sleeping so comfortably while he had had difficulty, but he quickly pushed that idea out of his head. Reminding himself he was the one at fault for the current mess, Oliver quickly went to his dresser, got out a pair of tan sweat pants and a T-shirt, and went into the bathroom. After brushing his teeth and washing his face, he changed.

Leaving the bathroom, he observed that the mess of curls hadn't moved at all. Swallowing his disappointment, he left and went out on a jog, intent on losing himself in the repetition of exercise. His broken heart needed the respite only exercise could provide.

An hour later, Oliver returned, his muscles spent and his mind somewhat rejuvenated. He felt slightly more confident in facing the day ahead of him. As he contemplated taking a shower, Oliver rued the fact that their guest bathroom was being redone, making its shower unavailable. He said a short prayer Felicity would forgive him for using the one in the master bedroom. Again, as he looked at the mass of blonde curls peeking out of the blankets, Oliver was happy she was still sleeping.

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

Felicity had also spent most of the night tossing and turning. She had finally fallen asleep for what it seemed only a short time before she heard the shower in the bathroom. Stifling a sob as she recalled what had occurred the night before, she tried to lie quietly and fall back asleep. She willed herself to not move when she heard Oliver leave the bathroom and sensed him stopping to look at her in the bed. He then left quietly.

Turning to the other side, Felicity punched her pillow and tried to get comfortable once again. Instead, the tears she had successfully held in last night overflowed, and she gave into her grief and anger. In her experience, nothing helped a broken heart like a good cry. And she needed a clear head to finish the discussion with Oliver today. As she was almost at the end of a most cleansing cry, she suddenly remembered something.

She was also expected at Palmer Tech today as well. _Oh crap, I almost forgot._

Felicity jumped out of bed and grabbed her phone. She called Adam, one of her personal assistants who was usually the first to arrive, and usually was there this early. As he reviewed her day's schedule, Felicity decided that nothing could not wait until tomorrow. Swallowing the distaste of having to reschedule things, she told Adam she wasn't going to be at work today and to reschedule everything. Adam's cheery voice, normally comforting to her, was irritating in its efficiency. However, she was also relieved when he agreed to reschedule everything without difficulty.

After placing the phone back on the night table, Felicity snuggled under the covers once again. Sometimes her best thinking occurred when she was in bed, she rationalized. Attempting to gather her scattered thoughts, Felicity wondered what to do. Her heart breaking, Felicity reviewed her options.

One thing was clear, however. Just as Oliver had his go-to behavior of shutting down and relying only on himself, her go-to behavior was to run away at the first sign of betrayal. Of course, no one in their right mind could blame her. After all, a woman could only stand to have her heart broken so many times. But…could she have been wrong shutting down like she did when Oliver had returned from his battle with Ra's and announced his partnership with Malcolm? Isn't that what she was doing now? Threatening to leave instead of fighting for their relationship? On the surface, at least, Oliver always has the best intentions and reasons for his behaviors, even when those behaviors were the worst decisions ever.

The question came down to whether her heart was willing to chance another betrayal in the future. Whether one would occur, she wasn't sure. Oliver had indeed made much progress the past six months, as she kept reminding herself, but…could her heart stand another betrayal?

And then there was the mess with Darhk. If she left Oliver, could he battle Darhk without being distracted, without fatal results? Could she live with the fact she could've prevented something going wrong, if something indeed would go wrong and she wasn't there? Not to mention the fact she wanted to see Darhk punished. At this point, none of them knew how deadly the man truly was. Didn't she owe her city to help find out and stop him?

Shaking her head to clear it of such depressing thoughts, Felicity decided to get up and face the day after a final punch to her pillow in frustration. She headed for the shower. As she washed up, Felicity thought of what Oliver could do to win back her trust. Was there an easy answer? Was there an answer at all? What would it take for her to trust him again? She lost herself in the spray of water as she was unable to arrive at an answer.

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

As she walked down the stairs, Felicity heard Oliver on the phone. "We will discuss this soon, Samantha. Once I figure it all out. But I also warn you, I'll be looking into legal action to ensure shared custody of William."

Felicity continued to watch as Oliver angrily closed his cell phone and walked towards the window. Back ramrod straight, every muscle seemingly standing at attention, Oliver's body screamed his tension. For a moment, Felicity's heart went out to him. But then, she slammed those feelings down. _It's his own fault the news came out the way it did. If it hadn't been a secret, Darhk wouldn't have been able to use it against him._

Even though he was very tense, Oliver still could hear her approaching. "Good morning. How'd you sleep?" he asked without turning around.

Ignoring the small talk, Felicity asked, "So, that was Samantha on the phone?"

Acknowledging defeat, Oliver faced her and went straight to business. "Yes, that was Samantha. She somehow missed the news last night, but found out about William being called 'the mysterious boy' this morning in the news coverage of the debate."

Felicity let out a noisy sigh. "What was her reaction?"

"She first expressed her shock at what had happened, and of course she wanted to know how anyone had found out. She told me she 'knew' this was going to happen if I was 'allowed' into William's life."

"Doesn't she understand you have the _right_ to be in his life?"

"To give her credit, she only knows the Oliver who I was back then, the irresponsible frat boy." Oliver turned away from her again and looked out the window, his shoulders slouching.

"Everyone changes, Oliver. Even irresponsible frat boys."

"She's scared; she didn't know what to do."

"Well, give me a few moments with her and I'll tell her what she needs to do." _Oh, the lack of mind-mouth filter strikes again._

Oliver swallowed the smile which threatened to sneak out. "I don't doubt that, Felicity. However, we have to take care of a few other things first."

"What did she say when you mentioned getting a lawyer?"

"I guess I didn't give her have the chance to say anything. I knew you were awake, and I wanted to talk to you instead."

Despite herself, Felicity felt a twinge of satisfaction hearing Oliver say he wanted to fix things with her over talking to the mother of his son. She shook her head to bring herself back to the present situation. "Did you eat breakfast yet?"

Oliver turned back to her. He caught her eyes and said, "I…I waited for you."

Felicity swallowed at the desperation she saw in Oliver's eyes. Despite everything, she still couldn't face hurting him. "Um, I don't know if I really want to go out…"

"I made something light."

Felicity shrugged and followed Oliver to the kitchen table which was set with two places. She sat when he indicated she should and watched him take out a dish from the oven, and several from the refrigerator. When he set them down in front of her, Felicity observed scrambled eggs, bacon and fruit. He returned to the refrigerator and brought back a pitcher of orange juice.

They ate in silence. Felicity appreciated Oliver's understanding in not attempting small talk. Her brain-to-mouth filter was working for once, and she continued to eat in silence. Instead, she attempted to resume exploring her feelings regarding whether she should forgive Oliver. She was interrupted in her thoughts when Oliver left the table and returned to the kitchen. Despite herself, she smiled at him when he brought the coffee pot to the table.

"Aw, mother's milk, at last." Felicity looked at Oliver as he failed to smother a laugh. "Yes, I know it's coffee, not milk, but you know what I meant." She couldn't help herself; she smiled back at him. Then memories crashed into her mind again, and she dropped her eyes.

They finished the meal in silence.

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

After they were finished with breakfast, Felicity offered to help Oliver clean up the kitchen. Again, Oliver took comfort in the fact she had offered, but he was met with stony silence when he attempted small talk as they went about washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen. Reluctantly, he decided to not try again until they were finished.

Just when Oliver was about to suggest they sit down and continue their discussion from the previous night, the doorbell rang. At Felicity's surprised look, Oliver said, "I wasn't expecting anyone. Were you?"

Felicity shook her head. Oliver turned and walked to the door, looking through the peephole before opening the door. He wondered how the person had walked through the building's security. At the sight of who was standing outside their door, Oliver grimaced and gave a heavy sigh. Turning he found Felicity's eyes and said, "It's Samantha."

 **AN: There it is. So, what does Samantha want? Will all this be resolved soon? (It will). We shall see. Thanks so much for reading…and of course, Darhk is still there as a huge threat. So….please return and see how all this gets resolved. Huge thanks for reading….and reviewing, hopefully! Makes a gal happy, you know.**


	6. Chapter 6: Talk with Samantha

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this.

 **AN: Thank you so very much for returning to my little story. So…not sure how long it takes to get from Central City to Star City, so I hope ninety minutes is enough. I thought that would be how long it was in between the telephone call and her arrival.**

Previously:

 _Just when Oliver was about to suggest they sit down and continue their discussion from the previous night, the doorbell rang. At Felicity's surprised look, Oliver said, "I wasn't expecting anyone. Were you?"_

 _Felicity shook her head. Oliver turned and walked to the door, looking through the peephole before opening the door. He wondered how the person had walked through the building's security. At the sight of who was standing outside their door, Oliver grimaced and gave a heavy sigh. Turning he found Felicity's eyes and said, "It's Samantha."_

Felicity was unsure as to how she felt about meeting the woman who was now threatening her relationship. And why must she show up now, before she and Oliver had an opportunity to hash things out on their own?

Opening the door, Oliver attempted to tone down his Arrow growl. "What are you doing here, Samantha?"

"I decided that if you weren't going to talk to me on the phone about this, I needed to see you face to face." Turning, she stuck her right hand out towards Felicity. "My name is Samantha. I guess you're Felicity."

Her face impassive, Felicity shook Samantha's hand only long enough to be polite. "I guess we should sit down and get this discussion out of the way, since you insist." She motioned towards their living room. Samantha led the way and took a seat in one of the armchairs. Felicity took the other armchair, leaving Oliver to take a seat on the couch.

"I trust William is safe and being watched," Oliver stated.

Samantha glared at Oliver. "Of course. He is in school. At that private school you arranged."

"That's good. Now that he might be identified…."

"My point exactly! He could be in danger, now that it will come out he is your son. Why did you let this happen?"

"Again, Samantha, I did _not_ tell anyone, not even my…not even Felicity. And she would be the _first_ person I would've told." Oliver attempted to hold his anger, but he was afraid he was losing the battle.

"Then I ask again, how did this come out?"

"My opponent is known for dirty tactics. He…I mean, _she_ will do anything to win the election."

"See, between your reputation, and your family wealth, and now this mayoral campaign, how can I keep William safe? I knew I should never have allowed you to see him. You promised me you'd be careful!" Samantha grabbed the arm of the chair, her knuckles white against the red fabric.

"For the last time, Samantha, I was. It's my business to know how not to be followed, and I am the best at that. I don't know how this happened, and I regret it happening, Samantha. I really do."

Felicity interrupted, "Samantha, if I may call you that, how dare you accuse Oliver of putting your son in danger. It would be the last thing he would ever do. Because of his experience with running a multimillion dollar company, he knows how to keep secrets. So do I. But you didn't trust us. Trust Oliver now to make sound judgements regarding this information. Trust me to keep the secret just as safe as you and him."

Samantha sat up straighter, anger rolling off of her in almost visible waves. "How dare you take that tone with me? You are not even a mother. You don't know what it means, to have a child to take care of, to keep safe. A child whose safety is more important than your own."

"Just because I am not blessed with children, _at this time_ , doesn't mean I don't know what it means to keep a child safe. You don't know me, Samantha. And you don't know what a fine, responsible person Oliver has grown up to be. He is not the irresponsible frat boy you met all those years ago."

Oliver rose, walking to the space between the two women. "Okay, I think we need to discuss the real issue here, not throw around accusations or try to place blame." He looked at Samantha. "What exactly is your objective for your visit today, Samantha?"

"I just wanted to get some answers. Which you have not given me."

"I told you. I don't know how Ruve Adams found out about William. But you can believe me, Samantha, I will not rest until I find out how this happened."

"That doesn't take care of the fact we now have to tell William you are his father."

Felicity again spoke without thinking. "That should've happened months ago. He deserves to get to know his father, as well as to know who his father truly is."

Samantha opened her mouth, but Oliver interrupted. "Samantha, again, I do apologize how this all happened. But, William is a well-adjusted child. You have done an excellent job raising him. He will be able to handle this. Samantha, he really can. And, because he is also intelligent, he may have already figured out who I am."

"What? If you gave him clues…."

"No, Samantha, I have not. But, you never talked about his father to William, correct? And children talk. And watch TV. A man appears and spends time with him, the man is either dating his mother or is his long-lost father. Don't sell your son short, Samantha. Luckily, he inherited your brains, not mine."

Felicity coughed out a laugh, out of surprise, while Samantha only stared at Oliver. "Do you think you can smooth this over with your Queen charm and humor?"

"I know I can't. But what I said is true. There's a good chance William knows. Or that he would've figured it out. So you sent him to school today without talking to him about this?"

Samantha's face turned pink. "We were running late, and I didn't have time to check the news. When I heard it, and talked to you…."

"You decided to rush here and confront me instead of doing what was best for _our_ son."

"I _am_ doing what I think is best for _my_ son."

Felicity attempted to break in gently. "But Samantha, you know how kids talk…."

Samantha had the grace to stop and consider what she had done. Her face pale, she said, "I should get back to him as soon as possible. Hopefully it's not too late."

Oliver offered, "One benefit of the school I had selected, they are well-versed on how to handle problems such as this. They will attempt to censure the statements of the other children. So, there is a chance, if you leave now, you will hopefully head off a problem."

Felicity said, "Samantha, before you leave, however, what do you want to do now going forward? I think, now that the secret is out, we can arrange more equal visitation times."

"After what has happened, do you actually think I will trust you and Oliver to keep my boy safe? To allow him be alone with you?"

"And I told you I would pursue legal action in order to do obtain what is only my right," Oliver said.

" _Your_ right? Your right? What about a young boy's right to live a free, uncomplicated, safe life?"

"I could say, what about the right for that boy to know his father? And know it is his father he is interacting with?" Oliver asked, anger clearly in his tone.

Felicity chose to interrupt. "Okay, like Oliver said before, we shouldn't let our tempers get out of control. We appreciate your concern, Samantha, and for you visiting to discuss this face to face." She exchanged glances with Oliver. "Like he said, we will find out how this became public. And we will do everything necessary to keep you and William safe. You have our promise on that, Samantha."

"I'd believe you but Oliver also gave me that type of promise and look what happened."

"That's because you didn't allow him to have his best team on it. Now that we know, we can protect both of you."

Samantha laughed. "With what? He isn't the Green Arrow or something."

Oliver looked at Felicity as she jumped slightly. She shook her head. "Of course not. However, we do have resources not normally available to the average person."

Samantha looked at the man and woman in front of her and sighed. "Well, I suppose I have no other choice but to trust you. Except to move far away under an assumed name. I don't even know where to begin with that. And that hardly would be fair to William."

"I appreciate that, Samantha. Why don't we set up a meeting next week to discuss custody and other issues regarding William?"

Samantha considered his words, then nodded. "I suppose. But I am not too thrilled about this."

"We understand, we really do, Samantha. However, I have missed too many years of William's life already, through no fault of my own."

Samantha nodded, and a look of sympathy appeared on her face but disappeared quickly. Oliver's mouth turned downwards in a grimace. "And, Samantha, may I take the opportunity once again to apologize for everything I, and my mother, did to you."

Shrugging, Samantha gave a small smile. "Well, Oliver, it was also my decision to spend that time with you. But it did result in the best thing to ever happen in my life. William."

"And I do look forward to getting to know him as well," Felicity said.

Samantha acknowledged her comment with a nod and small smile as well. "I hope so." Rising, she picked up her purse. "I suppose I should leave now. I can just catch the next train back to Central City."

Oliver realized they had one more thing to discuss before Samantha left. "Before you leave, Samantha, I just wanted to let you know that…well, you know, because of the campaign…"

"You have to tell the public about William," Samantha said in a monotone.

Felicity nodded sympathetically. "It's not going to be bad."

Samantha looked at Felicity with undisguised disbelief. "I am getting the idea you are a naturally optimistic person, but…it's a little tiring. It's not going to be good. My son…I never wanted him to be a part of any media circus."

Before she could stop her mouth, Felicity said, "You should have thought of that before you slept with a Queen." Felicity opened her eyes wide and she turned red. "I'm sorry, Samantha. I really am. Another thing you will learn about me is I have almost a non-existent brain-to-mouth filter. Things often pop out of my mouth before I could stop them."

Samantha looked at Oliver with a question on her face and raised her hands up. "Are you kidding me?"

"I'm sorry, Samantha. Just wanted to let you know that we will have to release some information about William. We will let you know what it is before we release it. I will try to keep your names out of it. I was planning on saying that I had only found out about William's existence in the last two months, and that we haven't been in contact. Hopefully…"

"Hopefully what, Oliver? You can keep us out of it? You really are not that naïve, are you?"

"No, I'm not that naive, Samantha. Hopeful. Not for my sake, but for William's." Oliver paused. "I promise you, I will try my best." Continuing despite the sneer Samantha gave him, Oliver asked, "Is there anything else I can do for you right now, Samantha?"

Samantha rolled her eyes, stood up, and said, "This is not over with, not by a long shot, Oliver."

Felicity held out her hand and gave Samantha one of her bright smiles. "Thank you, Samantha, for coming today. I am glad we were able to start working this out." Before Samantha could say whatever she was about to say, Felicity hurriedly said, "And…we know we are only beginning, Samantha."

Samantha nodded and shook her hand. Turning she said to Oliver, "Yes, please let me know when we can meet."

Oliver walked her to the door. "Thank you Samantha. You will not regret this."

Samantha nodded, turned and left. Oliver turned back to Felicity, who had remained in the living room. He walked back to her, and sat down in the armchair. Bracing his arm on the armrest, he pinched the bridge of his nose while he took a deep breath.

"Well, there's that." Felicity said as she bounced onto the couch.

"An interesting turn of events, that's for sure," Oliver said. He looked at Felicity. "Um, what do you want to do now, if I may ask?"

Felicity considered the question. Her lips twisted in a tight-lipped grimace. "We still have to discuss this, Oliver."

 **AN: Thank you again for reading….hope you take the time out of your busy day and let me know what you thought or what you are thinking about this story. It is always appreciated! This ending wasn't as clear cut as I would've liked, but the chapter was way too long without it. Sigh.**


	7. Chapter 7: Relationship Reset?

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this.

 **AN: Thank you for returning to this story. This site sure has been quiet, sigh. Oh well. I am so very thankful for each and every reader, but especially if you leave me a note letting me know what you enjoyed about it. Always appreciated.**

 *****And, just a reminder (because I myself needed it), this is AU at this point. Oliver never got a chance to propose, in this story. Yet.**

Previously:

 _Oliver walked her to the door. "Thank you Samantha. You will not regret this."_

 _Samantha nodded, turned and left. Oliver turned back to Felicity, who had remained in the living room. He walked back to her, and sat down in the armchair. Bracing his arm on the armrest, he pinched the bridge of his nose while he took a deep breath._

 _"_ _Well, there's that." Felicity said as she bounced onto the couch._

 _"_ _An interesting turn of events, that's for sure," Oliver said. He looked at Felicity. "Um, what do you want to do now, if I may ask?"_

 _Felicity considered the question. Her lips twisted in a tight-lipped grimace. "We still have to discuss this, Oliver."_

Looking down at his clasped hands in his lap, Oliver remained silent for a moment. "I know," he spoke in a softer voice. "This whole incident has revealed some issues for both of us, hasn't it?"

"Yes, it has. What should we do about them?"

"Not to try to dismiss them lightly, Felicity, but in all seriousness I think the best thing we could do is work on them…together."

"Really? And how do we do that? Couples therapy?" Felicity allowed the bitterness she was feeling to come through her question.

Oliver sighed. He knew he had many issues which would benefit psychological assistance, but he wasn't sure about whether he was ready for that. He wasn't even sure if Felicity was being serious with her suggestion. However…

"If it means keeping you in my life, I'd even do therapy." Continuing, he added, "If you want to."

Felicity grimaced. "Are you sure? Well, I'm not so sure, so I don't know why I'm even attempting to discuss such a thing with you. However, I know both you and I are walking time bombs of relationship issues."

"We covered this only a month ago, didn't we?" Oliver said softer, "Remember what you said? About being stronger together? Despite our childhood and our lack of good relationship models?"

Felicity shook her head. "Low blow, Queen. Of course I remember. And I meant it."

"I did as well, and I still do."

Felicity lowered her head, trying to hide her eyes from the man across from her. She remained conflicted as to what she should do regarding their relationship. She was still hurt, and confused, and unclear. However, despite herself, she looked up into the clear blue eyes of one Oliver Queen, who reached out and took her hand.

"Felicity, all I ask is the chance to regain your trust."

Felicity sighed and shook her head. "I don't know what to do with you, Mr. Queen."

"Love me for the rest of your life?" Oliver turned a little red as he realized what he'd just said. The statement had slipped out before he could stop it.

She blanched at that statement. "What?" _Was he actually proposing marriage, at a time like this? Oliver was at times dense, but this would be the ultimate example indeed of his stupidity._

Oliver gave a short sigh of exasperation. "No, I didn't mean it as a marriage proposal. All I wanted was…well, I was trying to be humorous, I guess." He gave a deep sigh. "I know, a sense of humor now appearing in the worst of times? I'm sorry."

Felicity looked at the man. She considered how much he had indeed changed in the past six months, and how far they'd come in their relationship. Did she really want to throw it all away, on the chance he might screw it up again?

As he waited for her to say something, Oliver could hardly breathe. Finally, he broke the silence. "Please, Felicity. Just give us a chance. I promise, I will go slow."

"Okay." As Oliver was about to say something, a smile breaking out on his face, Felicity continued, "Remember, we start at the beginning. You have to regain my trust again, Oliver."

Oliver nodded, his smile losing some of its brilliance, but hope remained in his eyes as he continued to hold her gaze.

"We are going to have to talk more about all of this, Oliver. What it will mean to start over. Whether I should move out, and things like that." As his face fell, Felicity continued. "I…I just can't handle any more right now. I'm going out for a jog."

Oliver numbly nodded acknowledgement and watched sorrowfully as she climbed up the stairs to change into a T-shirt and shorts.

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

Watching the love of his life leave without another word, Oliver sighed. Shaking his head, he decided to put the time to good use and decided to call Alex to explain the situation. Instead, Alex insisted on coming over to discuss all the ramifications of the reveal in person. Upon his arrival, Alex got directly to the point.

"Again, Alex, I apologize for this coming out like this. It was never my intention…"

"It appears Mrs. … _Darhk_ has some tricks in her arsenal."

"Yes, courtesy of her husband, I'm sure."

"Again, can you explain how this situation occurred?" Oliver could tell Alex was holding in his irritation.

Oliver sighed, and told Alex the story of his youthful infidelity and his mother's deception. "I don't have any idea how they discovered about William. No one but his mother and I knew."

"Are you sure? Can you trust his mother? Could she have told _someone_?"

"Alex, Samantha insisted, as a condition for me to see William, I didn't tell anyone, and I mean _anyone_ , about being William's father. Felicity didn't even know. And I've hated keeping this from her every moment." Beginning to pace, he said, "I doubt Samantha told anyone."

"Well, how was this discovered? And at this particular time?"

"I don't know. Yet. But, I think, Alex, we need to concentrate on how to spin this, and to keep William out of it as much as possible."

"What is your official statement going to be about this?"

"What would you suggest, following everything I've told you?"

"I'll work some things up and bring them back to you this afternoon, all right?"

"Sounds good to me. Yeah, I suppose we have to get this out as soon as possible."

"You think?" Oliver was surprised at the level of bitterness Alex communicated with his question. "I'm sorry, Oliver, but this really knocked me out of right field. I guess I should have expected it, given your history, but...certainly, it should've come up years ago."

"Yes, I agree, but because of my mother and her love for secrets, it was kept hidden until now."

Alex stood up. "Okay, I'll see what I can do to put out the fires, and I will talk to you this afternoon." He gave out a deep sigh. "You promise, there's nothing else which can come out to sabotage us?"

"Nope" _Unless spending one's nights dressed in green leather and fighting criminals counts._ Oliver mentally rolled his eyes at himself as he walked Alex out.

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

Felicity lost herself in the monotony of exercise as she jogged. She needed a short respite from all the drama of her possibly broken relationship. Even if she'd given Oliver the slightest bit of hope it could be repaired. But she purposefully pushed those thoughts aside as she jogged. She could only jog half a mile, but exercise did help her feel better. Felicity decided she wanted to cool down with a slow walk around the park beside their home. Losing herself in the sunshine, the flowers, and the trees, she again refused to allow herself to think about what to do about Oliver. Until she decided it was time to head back home. Then, her thoughts returned to the man who was waiting for her.

Thinking about the morning so far, Felicity considered Samantha's actions. She could've been more cooperative, but Felicity could understand Samantha's anger and indignation. However, despite everything Oliver had done recently, Felicity was still incensed as to how Samantha attempted to degrade Oliver, just because of his past.

As she walked up the sidewalk to their condo, Felicity turned her phone back on. She'd purposely placed her phone on silent during the jog, something she rarely did. Looking at missed calls and messages, she was surprised to see both Thea and Laurel's names pop up. Not doubting what they were calling about, Felicity wasn't sure if she was ready to talk to them. But then again, she wasn't too crazy about talking to Oliver again either. She still wasn't sure whether she should stay in the condo while they were attempting to rebuild their relationship. However, with Darhk still around, it was probably the best idea to stay as connected as possible.

Felicity opened the door, not exactly sure what she hoped to see. Oliver was sitting on their couch, staring into space, a forlorn look on his face. Pushing down the instinct of wanting to rush over and comfort him, Felicity cleared her throat instead. "So how did the meeting with Alex go?"

"Like one would expect. I thought it best he come up with some possible news releases for us to review. I told him the entire story."

Felicity nodded. "I'm going upstairs to take a shower."

A small, shy smile appeared on Oliver's face. "I hope you had a good jog."

Felicity shrugged. "Yeah, it is a beautiful day out, isn't it?" An uncomfortable moment of silence followed, then she asked, "What else do you have on your plate today?"

"Unless there is something I can do for you, I was thinking about going to the Lair early, and start investigating how Darhk might've found out about William."

Felicity wanted to ask a thousand questions, but she bit her tongue. There would be more time to talk about William at a later time. "Okay, then. If you don't mind, I will come later this afternoon to the lair to help out."

Oliver nodded, and picked up his keys and left. Felicity watched him leave, then went upstairs to get the refreshing shower she'd promised herself.

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

During her shower, Felicity considered whether she should call Thea and/or Laurel to discuss the situation. Over the years, she'd lost contact with the few friends she'd made while in Starling, before joining Team Arrow. Maybe she should call Diggle and Lyla instead, to get some perspective on what to do about the entire thing.

Before making a final decision, as soon as she was dressed, she listened to her messages. Not to her great surprise, Laurel and Thea made firm invitations to lunch today with both of them, to discuss "the situation". Part of her wanted to refuse, but she decided to go ahead and see what the ex-girlfriend and the sister of the man who'd broken her heart had to say. Whatever they had to say might very well be most valuable, seeing they both had known him for most, if not all, their lives. But she most certainly will plan to take what they say with a good deal of caution, that's for sure.

Felicity decided to text both of them, agreeing to meet them at the suggested place of Big Belly Burger at noon. She then began to rush to finish getting ready for the rest of the day.

 **AN: Slowly but surely we take care of the issue of William. We will have to return to handling the Darhk situation soon, however. After all, he is still lurking in the background, planning his evil deeds. Or…we shall see how chatty the women are at their lunch date. But don't fear, we will be seeing Darhk again soon.**

 **Hope you are still enjoying this story, and if you are interested in helping out a poor Muse out, leaving reviews is ALWAYS appreciated!**


	8. Chapter 8: Darhk Ups the Game

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this.

 **AN: Thanks for returning once again. Some action returns to the story in the second half of this chapter.**

 *****One change to canon. I've decided to include Roy in this. Let's pretend, shall we, that the whole "I have to pretend I'm dead' thing never happened, and Roy never left, so Roy can be part of this story. Thanks.**

Previously:

 _Felicity decided to text both Laurel and Thea, agreeing to meet them at the suggested place of Big Belly Burger at noon. She then began to rush to finish getting ready for the rest of the day._

The two other women were already there, waiting for her in a booth, when Felicity arrived. She was greeted with big smiles of welcome from both of them, but Felicity sensed an underlying current of hesitancy as well.

"So…how are you?" Thea asked, never one for avoiding an issue.

"It's good as can be expected, after having your entire world lambasted into oblivion."

Laurel nodded. "You know, I can somewhat relate, you know."

"May I speak freely?" Felicity asked. As soon as the question left her mouth, Felicity was shocked. As well as the other two women. "Wow, filter working today." The other two gave a small laugh, and Laurel nodded.

"You know, it's not quite the same, Laurel. This has more to do with Oliver's tendency to keep secrets, not with any sleeping around."

Laurel shrugged. "Yeah, you're right. Not quite the same."

Thea tentatively placed a hand on Felicity's shoulder. "My brother, he certainly had changed when he returned from being gone. Before, he was as transparent as glass. However, once he came back, he…he was so difficult to read."

"And I never knew _Ollie_. The man I have gotten to know, the man I've grown to love, is _Oliver_. The man I had accepted having secrets _in the past_ which he might never share with me. But…I thought he'd grown away from that. Into a man capable of sharing and working with another in a relationship."

Laurel said, "You have to admit, he has indeed grown into such a man. He has made tremendous progress over the last six months. Mainly due to you, Felicity."

"Obviously, though, I'm not enough, if he's able to slip into old patterns."

"Only when under extreme stress. Avoiding the tendency to fall back into old patterns of coping while stressed is never easy. This latest revelation of Mom lying to him really sent him into a tailspin," Thea said.

"Don't you think I realize that? I, of all people, know to what extent Moira was able to hide and keep secrets. I sure hope this is the final one we find out about, that's for sure." As Thea's face fell, Felicity added, "I'm sorry, Thea. This can't be easy for you either."

In her usual blunt way, Thea asked, "Are you going to forgive him?"

Felicity looked down at her clasped hands. "I told him we could still work on a relationship. I guess basically telling him we still have a relationship to work on. But I'm…I'm not sure. I…I'm just too conflicted." Looking at Laurel, she admitted, "I simply don't know what to do."

Laurel asked softly, "Do you still love him?"

"Of course. A person can't simply turn off love just like that. Even if a person wants to." She caught Thea's eyes. "But your brother…he's so…so very complicated."

"Like I've said, I never expected him to be deeper than a kiddie pool. But he truly is. I wonder sometimes what he'd have grown into if he hadn't been shipwrecked, etc."

Felicity pondered her statement a moment then said softly, "Yeah, me too."

Laurel repositioned herself in the booth. "If you need anything, Felicity, please let us know. We're here for you, all right?"

Felicity nodded. "Thanks. I appreciate that."

The waitress came over to take their orders. After she left, Felicity commented on her timing.

"I may have told her we would need a few minutes before we ordered to talk to you after you arrived," Laurel said.

Felicity nodded, and the women sat in silence for a minute. Felicity then said, "When it comes down to it, I'm afraid Oliver isn't ready to commit to a balanced, working relationship."

Laurel nodded her head. "I can understand why you'd think that. But, from what I've seen with the two of you together, and excluding the present situation, I'd say he has been. He's definitely not the man I was in love with years ago. He's matured into an adult, if I can say that." She gave a sideways glance towards Thea, who gave a short laugh.

"Yes, I can certainly agree that Oliver's quite different from the fun-loving 'Ollie' of those early years. Of course, my view's tempered with the memories of a young girl in awe of her big brother, but still." Thea smiled at Felicity. "I guess it all comes down to what's important to you, having a predictable relationship with a boring man, or a relationship consisting of ups and downs with an unpredictable man like my brother."

"The one thing you can't say about Oliver is he's boring," Felicity agreed.

The food arrived then. Felicity picked up her hamburger with a sigh. It was certainly helpful talking to someone about her relationship, but on the other hand, she remained just as confused as to what she should do. She resolved to put it out of her mind for the moment and enjoy the rest of the meal with her friends.

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~

Previously:

 _Alex stood up. "Okay, I'll see what I can do to put out the fires, and I will talk to you this afternoon." He gave out a deep sigh. "You promise, there's nothing else which can come out to sabotage us?"_

 _"_ _Nope" Unless spending one's nights dressed in green leather and fighting criminals counts. Oliver mentally rolled his eyes at himself as he walked Alex out._

As promised, Alex called back in two hours. "I sent you three possible news releases via email. I'll wait while you read them."

Oliver went to his computer and pulled up the email and read the three. "The third release is the one I think we should go with. Just enough information to satisfy the masses, but protecting William and his mother."

"I agree. I will release this immediately then." After a pause, Alex asked, "Forgive me for asking again, but you _are_ sure there isn't anything _else_ which could surprise us or jeopardize the election?"

"No, Alex. I again apologize for this happening."

"No need to apologize, for it's hardly your fault."

"So…anything else you can think of, Alex? Should we take the initiative and propose another debate?"

"No, that's not necessary, I believe. You were winning the debate until they pulled their little surprise. And besides, the election has been set for two weeks from this Tuesday. I'll see about arranging several more interviews and public appearances."

"Okay, that all sounds good. It goes without saying, Alex, but keep me informed, and I will do the same."

Alex agreed and the men hung up. Oliver closed his cell phone and leaned back in the chair. Just as he closed his eyes, it rang again. He was about to answer it, thinking it was Alex when he caught a glimpse of the number. Unknown. Debating for only half a second, he quickly answered it.

"Hello, Oliver."

His breath caught in his throat. _Why is he calling me?_ "Hello, Darhk."

"Are you missing something? Or should I say someone? Three someones?"

Swallowing the gasp of panic which almost fell out of his mouth, Oliver quickly scanned his texts. He noted Felicity had texted him she was meeting Thea and Laurel at Big Belly Burger for lunch. Oliver closed his eyes and prayed it wasn't them to whom Darhk was referring.

"I don't know. Why?"

"Well, I decided I needed to have a nice little chat with your girlfriend, sister and ex-girlfriend. And I think you should join us as well."

"How do I know you have them?"

"Why would I lie? Meet me at the address I've texted you. In an hour. Unless you no longer care to see them alive, that is." A dial tone occurred before Oliver could reply.

Oliver snapped his phone shut. He rubbed his temples and quickly reviewed his options. He called Dig and let him know.

"I'll call Roy and we'll meet you there. It'd be quicker. The sooner we get there, the sooner we can case the joint."

"Not sure what the point of that is. Darhk can probably second-guess us at every turn." Considering the point, Oliver added, "Okay, it does sound like a good idea. See you soon."

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

Felicity was first aware of a most painful kink in her neck. As alertness increased, she slowly became aware of being tied to a chair. _Not again. Who kidnapped me this time?_ She raised her head from where it was resting on her chest and looked around her.

Felicity was able to focus on two other people beside her. Thea and Laurel were also tied to chairs, apparently still unconscious. Felicity slowly looked around them. It looked like they were in another abandoned warehouse, empty shelves along the far walls, dust covering all surfaces. Probably in the Glades, she heard the faint sounds of traffic. Sunlight still coming in the small, grimy windows along the high ceiling. She couldn't see or hear anyone else in the room with them. Scouting the corners of the ceiling she didn't observe any cameras but weren't assured they weren't hidden somewhere in the room.

Reviewing this afternoon's events, Felicity narrowed down the possibilities of what had happened to the fact that the cabbie picking them up from the restaurant acted a little strange. Instead of picking up a closer fare, the taxi had sped up and pulled right in front of them as they left the restaurant. Thinking nothing of it at the time, they climbed into the back seat of the taxi, and…that's all Felicity could remember. She didn't recall the partition being up between them and the driver, but she didn't doubt some gas was used on them to knock them unconscious.

Stopping her ruminations, Felicity thought she better check on the other two. "Thea? Laurel? Can you hear me?"

She breathed in relief when both women began to stir. Laurel jumped in her chair as she woke up. Thea gasped in wonder at being tied up.

"Felicity? What…what's going on?" Laurel asked.

"I'm not sure either. I just woke up a little while ago. Haven't seen or heard anyone yet."

"I've been waiting patiently for you women to wake up," a voice came from behind them. However, all three women recognized the voice.

Felicity's lips curled down as she recognized Darhk as the man approaching them. "I guess we shouldn't be surprised."

"No, indeed, I guess you shouldn't be." Darhk said as he walked in front of them.

"It's not very imaginative of you, Darhk. Kidnapping innocent women. Could bring you at least thirty years in jail," Laurel said, hiding behind her ADA identity.

"Well, how considerate of you for reminding me of that possibility, Ms. Lance. However, I don't think I have to worry about that. You first have to indict me on charges for that to happen." All sorts of unspoken threats were within his statement.

Taking several steps closer to the women, Darhk stopped and caught each of the women's eyes. "I do apologize for the accommodations, and having to ask you to stay here for some time. It can't be helped, unfortunately. I will soon be talking to Mr. Queen, and I will be asking him to drop out of the mayoral race. I will also ask him to get me in contact with that troublesome Green Arrow friend of his. I also have some demands he'll have to deliver before I can allow you three to return to your homes."

"How dare you keep us here! I don't even know why you think the vigilante will do anything for you if you threaten us. That's preposterous!" Thea stated.

"Well, _Ms._ Queen, it seems the Green Arrow has made himself particularly visible in affairs involving your family, and those involving the other two women here as well. So, apparently you three are indeed important to him." Shrugging he added, "But…if I'm wrong, then it will simply be bad news for you then, I guess."

Turning around, he began to walk away. Stopping, he turned back and said, "Oh yes, I forgot to add, please make yourself comfortable. I will be back later to check on you. However, do not fear, there will be guards here making sure you three behave. Which I strongly encourage you to do so. I wish to return you three to Mr. Queen at least mostly unharmed, if at all possible."

Watching him leave, Felicity's lips turned down once again in a sign of disgust. He was certainly one of the creepiest of criminals they have fought. And one of the most difficult in determining what his end game was.

Being cautious of any possible eavesdropping devices, Laurel stated, "I wonder what he could possibly want to ask the Green Arrow for."

"I just hope Oliver's doing okay with worrying about the three of us, and refuses to be distracted," Thea said.

"Don't worry, Thea, he's had quite the amount of experience in handling these types of situations before involving friends and family," Felicity reminded her.

"Oh yeah, like the last three times I was kidnapped." Thea pursed her lips as she remembered the Hoods, Nyssa, and Slade.

Laurel's eyes gained a reflective gleam. "You know, I have yet to really reflect on how he has changed since being back from the island. Now that I know…everything, that is."

Felicity nodded. "Yes, it can be quite overwhelming, if you think about it. Oliver is indeed one amazing man. When he isn't being an insufferable fool."

Thea snorted. "Well, we could spend all day discussing that, couldn't we? Has anyone had any luck at all in loosening their ropes? I haven't"

"Me neither." The other two chimed in.

"I don't have any other ideas at the moment, but let's try to get out of these ropes and get the hell out of here."

The other women voiced their agreement, and all three focused on that task.

 **AN: What do you think? Yeah, Darhk has hostages. What is he planning? Hope you turn in for the next chapter to find out, and thanks again for leaving a review. Always most appreciated!**


	9. Chapter 9: Kidnap Negotiations

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this.

 **AN: Thanks for returning, and for the reviews, favs and follows! We are getting a little closer to the end…a little closer to finding out what Darhk is up to.**

Previously:

 _"_ _Hello, Oliver."_

 _His breath caught in his throat. Why is he calling me? "Hello, Darhk."_

 _"_ _Are you missing something? Or should I say someone? Three someones?"_

 _Swallowing the gasp of panic which almost fell out of his mouth, Oliver quickly scanned his texts. He noted Felicity had texted him she was meeting Thea and Laurel at Big Belly Burger for lunch. Oliver closed his eyes and prayed it wasn't them to whom Darhk was referring._

 _"_ _I don't know. Why?"_

 _"_ _Well, I decided I needed to have a nice little chat with your girlfriend, sister and ex-girlfriend. And I think you should join us as well."_

 _"_ _How do I know you have them?"_

 _"_ _Why would I lie? Meet me at the address I've texted you. In an hour. Unless you no longer care to see them alive, that is." A dial tone occurred before Oliver could reply._

Approaching the address Darhk had given him from what he assumed was the building's blind side, Oliver kept an eye out for Diggle and Roy. He found them behind the next corner of the building.

"We haven't seen anyone here, much less the girls," Roy said.

"I wonder if Darhk intends to release them to us," Diggle said.

"I'm not sure either. Now, I'm dressed as Oliver, so I need you two to be especially vigilant. I think Darhk may already suspect my dual identity, so I don't want to give him any more proof. If we can help it." Looking at his watch, Oliver said, "I better go. It's time."

Diggle slapped him on the back, and Roy gave him a nod of encouragement.

Entering the building, the lights were off, the mid-afternoon sun shining through the grimy windows of the warehouse. Oliver looked for any evidence of criminal activity of any sort but didn't find any. All he could see were various sized of boxes stored on the shelves, interspersed with various ladders, scooters and such. He walked into a large cavernous room where he sensed someone also in the room somewhere close behind him.

When his name was called, Oliver reacted with surprise, pretending not to have known Darhk was approaching him. He turned around to meet the villain as he walked towards Oliver. "Darhk. What have you done with my sister and friends?"

"Yes, I can certainly understand your impatience in getting them back. All three are very charming women indeed," Darhk said in a leisurely fake drawl. "However, we do have some business to discuss first."

Looking around, Oliver asked, "I don't see them. Are they even here?"

"Unfortunately not, Mr. Queen. I…."

"You said you would release them if I met with you!" Oliver didn't have to fake the anger and fear coloring his response.

"No, Mr. Queen, I did _not_ say that. I simply asked you to meet me. We are here to discuss the terms necessary for the safe return of all three women."

The muscle in Oliver's cheek twitched as he attempted to keep his face without expression. "Okay. What are the conditions?"

"First, you are to withdraw from the mayoral race immediately. Cite whatever reason you wish, within reason of course. Leaving my or my wife's name out of it."

Oliver closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, letting it out. He opened them again and asked, "What are the other conditions?"

"It appears the local hero, the Green Arrow, takes a special interest in you and your family. I wish to discuss some things with him as well, conditions which he needs to meet as well before the women are released." Continuing, he added, "Since you two have a connection, I figure you can get him to meet me back here in an hour."

Oliver attempted not to show alarm, but examined the man's face in front of him, looking for any clues as to what was behind this request, whether Darhk suspected Oliver's secret identity. Finding none, Oliver asked, "What type of _conditions_ are you going to ask this _stranger_ to do to prevent harm to my sister and friends?"

"Oh, Mr. Queen, I cannot discuss that with you. I need to discuss it with the local hero."

"I hardly know him, and yet you expect me to trust the wellbeing of those I care about to a stranger?"

Darhk raised his hands and shrugged. "What can I say? Life is like that sometimes."

"How do I know Thea, Laurel and Felicity are even okay right now?"

Oliver's phone dinged. Darhk nodded, "Look at the text, Mr. Queen."

Without dropping his gaze from Darhk, Oliver pulled his phone out of his vest pocket and pulled up the text. It had an attached picture, which showed the three women bound to chairs in a warehouse somewhere. A clock on the wall showed to be five minutes ago.

"As you can see, they are all healthy and breathing. For now. It is up to you and the Green Arrow to make sure they continue to be so."

Darhk turned around and began to walk away. "As I said, Mr. Queen, I expect your withdrawal from the race within the hour. And for the Green Arrow to show himself to me before that time as well."

"Then what?"

"I will be in touch."

Oliver watched as Darhk left. He turned and walked out the other exit. Stopping on the other side of the door, he whispered into his comm, "Arsenal, Spartan, did you get that? Are you following him?"

"Eyes on him now, Oliver. Will keep in touch."

The plan was for Dig and Roy to follow Darhk, and perhaps find the women. Oliver would go take care of Darhk's request.

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

As he sat at his desk drafting his withdrawal speech, Oliver's cell phone rang.

"Oliver, I don't know how he did it, but we lost Darhk."

"Damn. How far did you track him?"

"Not very far. Plus, he might have been backtracking. We'll keep an eye on the building until you arrive again."

Oliver debated whether they should draw back for now, but changed his mind. No matter what they did, Darhk probably was several steps ahead of them. He probably knew Diggle and Roy were at the warehouse now, watching it. They might as well stay there until this second part was completed.

Taking a cleansing breath in and letting it out slowly, Oliver dialed Alex. "Hey Alex…."

"I don't like the tone of your voice, Oliver."

"Um, I have to be honest with you. That villain, Darhk, who had kidnapped Felicity and me…."

"Don't tell me he's holding someone hostage again!"

Oliver knew Alex thought he was joking, but… "Actually, Alex…."

"No, Oliver. Don't tell me. He's actually holding someone hostage?"

"He wants me to withdraw from the mayoral race. Or he's going to kill Felicity, Laurel…and Thea."

"Thea? He has Thea as well?" Oliver heard Alex attempt to control his panic over the phone. "Well, I guess we have no other choice."

"We really don't."

"I'll set up the newscast." Oliver could hear the disappointment in Alex' voice.

"Can you set it up for an hour from now?" Oliver couldn't believe he was actually going ahead with this. But he didn't have any choice.

"Wow, he doesn't allow much time, does he?"

"Alex, I am so sorry about this. I really thought…."

"Me too, Oliver, me too. We'll see you within an hour then."

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

Oliver entered the warehouse again, this time in his Green Arrow outfit. Dig and Roy were again positioned outside. Eyes alert, continuously scanning the area, Oliver didn't hear or see any sign of Darhk before he appeared when Oliver had entered the cavernous room as before.

"Green Arrow, thank you for your prompt showing," a voice behind him said.

Green Arrow turned, and watched as Darhk walked closer to him from behind several large crates. He waited until Darhk spoke again.

"I assume you have been updated by Mr. Queen as to my demands so far."

"What are you up to, Darhk?" Oliver asked, speaking through his voice modulator.

"Wouldn't you like to know? Seriously, though, I need you to take a little vacation. I don't want you to make an appearance for, shall we say, three weeks. No involvement, no interference, or anything. Otherwise I will kill Ms. Smoak."

Forcing himself to control his reactions, Oliver asked, "What does Mr. Queen get for cooperating with you?"

"As soon as I hear he has withdrawn from the mayoral race, I will release Ms. Queen and Ms. Lance."

"May I ask how you determined who you'd release?"

"It seems as though Ms. Smoak has often worked with you in the past, thus she seems to be more important to you, more pertinent to your mission, than the other two women. If you'd rather, I can keep all three women until the three weeks have passed."

Keeping his anger under control, Oliver said, "No, that's not necessary. However, you don't have to keep Felicity. I give you my word I will not interfere with anything you might have in mind, if you only let her go unharmed."

"Oh, how precious you can be, Green Arrow," Darhk said, giving a short laugh. "I know how honorable you are, Green Arrow, but we don't know each other well enough for me to trust you. So…Ms. Smoak will keep me company for the three weeks. _Unless_ you misbehave. Oh, and that includes _not_ coming to look for her as well. One sight of anyone, and I mean _anyone_ , looking for her, and I will personally make sure she doesn't ever babble again."

Darhk cocked his head to one side. "So, Green Arrow, do we have a deal?"

"I'm warning you, Darhk, if you have harmed any of them…."

"Don't worry, GA, they are all okay. For now. But, do we have a deal?"

It almost seemed as Darhk's eyes bored right through Oliver's skull. If he didn't know better, Oliver could almost swear he could feel tangible evil rising from the man in front of him. He was so much more dangerous than any other villain he had fought before, due to the total unpredictability of his actions and not knowing what his motivation actually was.

For the moment, Oliver couldn't see any other way. He reluctantly agreed. "Yes, we have a deal."

"I better let you do whatever you have to do while wearing your costume. After tonight, I do not see it or hear about it appearing for three weeks, remember." With one final smirk, Darhk turned and walked out the same door he had walked out of after his talk with Oliver. Resisting the urge to chase after him and try to beat some sense into him, Oliver walked out the other door.

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

Diggle's reaction to Darhk's demand was pretty much what Oliver had expected. "You what? Are you out of your mind, Oliver?" Dig combed his hands through his hair. "How could you agree to something like that?"

"What do you expect me to do, Dig? This is Felicity we're talking about. Of course I'd have to agree." In a quieter tone, Oliver said, "I had to at least agree at the moment in order to think of what we can do." After a pause, he added, "Especially since you and Roy lost him again this second time."

Diggle knew Oliver meant no admonishment with that statement. "But…what _are_ we going to do? Just let him run amuck through Starling?"

"Either that, or there's something else he's attempting to hide from us, and thus is distracting us from it." Pinching the bridge of his nose, Oliver squeezed his eyes tightly closed, wishing he wouldn't get the headache he knew was on its way. "We have to figure out what he's up to. Maybe that's the real reason he kept Felicity. He probably knows she's our technical support."

"Well, she has been teaching Laurel, Thea and I some tricks, so perhaps among the three of us we can come up with something."

"I hope so Dig. We have to find her without tipping Darhk off that we're looking for her."

"Do you think he really buys into us not looking for Felicity? I mean, not interfering with crime is one thing, but not looking for her?"

Oliver shrugged. "I don't know. I wish I could get a handle on what he thinks. There's something about him that is just so downright _creepy_ I hardly trust anything he says." Sitting down and grabbing a pen and paper, Oliver stared off into space. "Maybe if we brainstorm on what we know about him, we can figure out what exactly is his game plan."

"With everything else he has going on, why does he want his wife to be mayor so bad?" Diggle asked.

"That's a good start." Writing down the topic, Oliver began numbering the page. "One, is there some legislature he wants to control? Two…is there a role of the mayor that would be beneficial for him and his plans? Three…does he want access to…."

"Could be anything, Oliver. Access to the building or office itself, the city budget, the payrolls, security passwords…how do we narrow it down?" Diggle asked.

Oliver was busy squibbling down all Dig had said. Stopping to look at what he had written, he said, "Not sure. At least this gives us a start. We can start some searches and see if any red flags occur."

Diggle took the piece of paper and sat down in front of Felicity's computers. After looking at the paper and sighing, he began to type in parameters for various searches while Oliver watched.

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

Previously:

 _Thea snorted. "Well, we could spend all day discussing that, couldn't we? Has anyone had any luck at all in loosening their ropes? I haven't"_

 _"_ _Me neither." The other two chimed in._

 _"_ _I don't have any other ideas at the moment, but let's try to get out of these ropes and get the hell out of here."_

 _The other women voiced their agreement, and all three focused on that task._

Even though they tried, the knots were more difficult than they thought. Sooner than they wanted, Darhk returned with a satisfied grin on his face.

Two of his goons followed behind him into the room, pushing a TV on a cart. They wheeled it in front of the women, and Darhk turned it on.

"I thought you'd enjoy watching the special announcement."

The women watched as silence as Oliver approached the group of reporters. "Thank you for being here today. Due to unforeseen circumstances I have to drop my bid for mayor. I wish Ruve Adams only good luck in her pursuit of the office. No further questions at this time."

A news reporter appeared on the screen. "There you have it. This mayoral campaign has been nothing but dull. After weathering the scandal of an illegitimate son, Oliver Queen has decided to withdraw from the race for unspecified reasons. Could it be because of the son? At this time, we do not know. Ann Weathers reporting."

Darhk clapped his hands. His two goons turned off the TV and wheeled it back out. He turned towards the women. "Well, Mr. Queen has fulfilled two out of the three conditions needed for your release."

Without them being aware of it, the two goons had walked behind Laurel and Thea and taken out syringes. They proceeded to inject them into each of the woman's upper arms. Felicity turned in alarm in time to watch them both fall unconscious.

"What are you doing?" Felicity watched as her two companions were untied from the chairs and carried out of the room. She uselessly pulled against her ropes. "Where are you taking them?"

"Oh, Ms. Smoak, don't worry. They are going to be returned safely back to Mr. Queen, per my deal with him. He was to withdraw from the mayoral race, and your two friends would be released. You, however, are lucky enough to spend the next three weeks with me."

Instantly suspicious, and understandably scared for what it could mean, especially regarding Oliver's secret identity, Felicity asked, "Why?"

"In order to keep the Green Arrow from interfering with my plans. His condition is to stay out of Starling for the next three weeks, and no one is to be looking for you. Only then will I release you. Unharmed, as well."

"But why me? I hardly know the man. I don't even know who is behind the mask."

Darhk smirked. "I could wonder about that, but it doesn't matter to me, Ms. Smoak. You have helped the Green Arrow enough to prove how valuable you are to him. So that is only what I am interested in."

"What plans are those you don't want him to interfere with? Since I will be stuck here with you, what's the harm in me knowing?"

"Oh, pretty ingenious, Ms. Smoak. But I don't fall for tricks like that. Unlike your TV criminals, I will not be spilling my guts to you." Walking to Felicity's side, Darhk pulls out a syringe. "We don't have any more time to talk now. Instead, it is your turn, Ms. Smoak, to take a nap. We will be on our way to stay at a nicer place for the next three weeks."

 **AN: What** ** _is_** **Darhk planning? How close to canon will this story end up being? I can't tell you yet...that would spoil everything. Hope you are enjoying it, at least a little. Maybe not one of my more clever stories, but…I think Darhk is a little tougher to write for I think than the other villains. Oh well. Let me know what you think…always appreciated!**


	10. Chapter 10: Meeting the Family

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this.

 **AN: Thanks for returning. Oops…sorry for the wait. Not exactly sure if anyone is reading the story anymore, but so far I finish all of my stories, good, bad, or otherwise. Sometimes it takes a while for a story to take off, I suppose. Anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!**

Previously:

 _Without them being aware of it, the two goons had walked behind Laurel and Thea and taken out syringes. They proceeded to inject them into each of the woman's forearms. Felicity turned in alarm in time to watch them both fall unconscious._

 _"_ _What are you doing?" Felicity watched as her two companions were untied from the chairs and carried out of the room. She uselessly pulled against her ropes. "Where are you taking them?"_

 _"_ _Oh, Ms. Smoak, don't worry. They are going to be returned safely back to Mr. Queen. You, however, are lucky enough to spend the next three weeks with me."_

Oliver and Diggle were waiting to hear from Darhk. Suddenly his Oliver Queen phone rang, and Oliver quickly looked at it. He told Diggle, "Lance" and answered it. "Captain, any news? Oh, are they okay? Oh good, yes we will be right down." Snapping his phone off, Oliver told Diggle, "Thea and Laurel were found in a deserted car a block away from the police station. They were unconscious, but unhurt. Let's go!"

Once they had reached the police station, they were brought over to a separate interview room. Thea leaped up and into her brother's arms. "I am so sorry we weren't able to get Felicity out of there."

Oliver looked at Thea with a slightly sideways look to remind her of other ears which might be listening. "What else could you have done. Neither one of you is Black Canary after all."

To cover up her faux pas, Thea hurriedly gave a little laugh. "Of course that's not what I meant, Ollie. I'm sorry Felicity wasn't released with us."

"I know you are. But at least the two of you aren't hurt, right?" Oliver looked at Laurel. "Darhk didn't harm any of you?"

Laurel shook her head. "He didn't even try to do his magic strangle hold on any of us. He just threatened us, but mostly left us alone." Looking sad, she said, "I'm sorry, Oliver, you had to withdraw from the mayoral race."

Oliver shrugged. "Maybe the Green Arrow can still fix things anyway."

Lance shook his head. He of course had to continue the charade as well, due to the officer with them in the room. "Oliver, how can you be so sure? Sometimes I don't know what use the vigilante is?"

Oliver muttered, "Oh, he has his purpose," as he looked at Thea. Turning to Lance, he asked, "Is there anything else, or can I get these two home? They are probably anxious for a meal and a bath."

Lance gave Laurel another hug. "Yes, indeed. I'm just glad you're both safe." Whispering to his daughter, he said, "Don't forget to let me know if you need anything."

"Okay, Dad."

Team Arrow exchanged looks and filed out of the room.

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

Pain from a massive headache was what Felicity woke up to. She raised a hand to her head. Suddenly remembering the past day, her eyes fly open. Remembering Oliver's advice, even though it may be too late, she laid still. She first looked straight ahead, then as far peripherally as she could. Flowered pastel wallpaper on a wall within a foot of her met her eyes. A matching blue bedspread was beneath her, and the mattress she was lying on was comfortable. Felicity tried to listen for any sounds, but didn't hear any.

Testing her legs, she realized they weren't restrained in any way. Neither were her arms. Even though her head was pounding, she gently sat up and lowered her foot to the floor. She apparently was in a room 10 x 10 feet, and the door was to her back. Felicity stood up and turned around. She decided to test her legs by walking around the bed and observed a window facing the bed. A darkened curtain covered it, and when she pulled it back, she wasn't surprised to find it shuttered tight. She tried to open it anyway, only to find it locked. She walked to the door, and tried it, only to find the same result. Of course. Sparsely furnished with only a bed and a chair, it was a pleasant enough room. For a cell.

The door suddenly opened. Felicity jumped back as Darhk entered the room. "Good evening, Ms. Smoak. Hope you rested well. I would like to invite you to supper with my family and me."

She followed Darhk down several hallways, with a guard following behind them. They walked into a small dining room, with a simple dining room set with Ruve Adams and a young girl with her long dark hair in two braids sitting there. She had a simple light green checkered dress on, and light freckles on her nose.

Darhk indicated an empty chair at one end of the table then took the seat across from her. The little girl sitting to her right smiled at Felicity. "Hello. My name is Alicia. What is your name?"

Darhk answered, "This is Felicity, dear. She is a friend of Daddy's and will be staying here a while."

Darhk bored his eyes into Felicity, almost daring her to start some sort of babble about her not being here of her own volition, or not a friend. Felicity pursed her lips together as a precaution that no such statement should slip through. Instead she gave Darhk a little glare of her own and a small defiant lift of her chin.

"And you know my wife, Mrs. Darhk."

Felicity had to actually bite her tongue to keep from spewing several thoughts to "Mrs. Darhk", who just sat there smiling demurely at Felicity. "Nice to see you again, my dear. Let's start supper, Damien, before it gets cold. I have to return to the city tonight."

"Oh, you do, my dear? I had hoped your business could wait until tomorrow."

"You know it cannot. Especially with the added requests you gave me this morning." The smile disappeared from her face. "Remember?"

"Yes, my dear. And I thank you for that." Darhk sat down and pulled his chair closer to the table. "Maybe it is a good thing for you to start back tonight, like you said." Taking a bread roll from the nearby basket, Darhk passed it to his daughter. "How were your classes today, Alicia?"

Looking across at Felicity, Alicia said, "I am home schooled. I'm lucky to have a governess who's able to teach me all sorts of wonderful things I wouldn't learn in a classroom." Turning towards her father, Alicia began to discuss her day.

Felicity stared at the plate of food brought to her by a servant and placed in front of her. Roast beef, baby potatoes and carrots. A side salad in a bowl off the side of her plate. A well-balanced meal indeed. Unfortunately, she had lost her appetite.

When Alicia stopped to talk a breath, Ruve asked Felicity, "My dear, is there something wrong with the food? You've hardly eaten a bite."

 _Yeah, the company. And being held against my will._ Felicity wanted to say. Instead, she forced out, "I guess I'm just not very hungry." She swallowed, and added in a falsely sweet voice, "It all looks so lovely."

"Yes, Bernard our chef does an excellent job. He has travelled with us quite extensively over the years."

Felicity felt an inner eye roll at that comment. Suddenly her stomach did give a little growl, despite itself. She sighed quietly picked up her fork and began to nibble at her plate while Ruve and Darhk discussed their family plans over the next week. Felicity thought it interesting what they all had planned, considering the huge responsibilities they each had, her as the Evil Mayor, and him as the Evil Mastermind. It all gave her quite the heebie-jeebies.

Eventually the meal from Hell was over, and Ruve addressed her daughter. "Just enough time for us to get a ride in before you have to do your homework."

"Can Felicity join us?" Alicia gave Felicity a huge smile. "I have the perfect horse to ride. She's sweet, kinda old, but very gentle. In case you've never ridden horses before."

Felicity's heart went out to the little girl. She really appeared to be quite the sweet girl. Sweeter than one would expect from having Evil Incarnate as parents. Before Felicity could answer, Darhk said, "Oh no my dear. She and I have some business to take care of. Perhaps tomorrow, in between your classes, she may join you for recreation time."

Alicia smiled. "Oh, good. I would like that."

Felicity couldn't help but return her smile. "Thank you Alicia. I would like that as well." She watched as the girl skipped out of her room after her mother, who turned back and gave Felicity a last warning glance. Which froze Felicity's smile off her face.

As Darhk finished a snifter of brandy which a servant had brought him (and which Felicity wasn't offered any), he leaned back into his chair and considered Felicity. She leaned back into her chair and met his gaze headlong refusing to be cowed by such a look. However, she was quaking inside, wondering what indeed was going to happen. Darhk had been "nice" for too long for her own comfort.

"I suppose you wonder why I have brought you here, Ms. Smoak."

Several snarky comments percolated up through her brain, but luckily for once her filter stopped them. She swallowed and waited in silence for Darhk to continue.

"Well, it serves two purposes. I know for a fact that neither you nor the Green Arrow ever located this house. I took special pains to keep this hidden. Also, I have other business to attend to, so it's more convenient to keep you here."

"I'm glad you have all your responsibilities wrapped up so nicely."

"You shall see exactly how _not_ nice my business ends up being once my plans are set into motion." Rising, he motioned her to get up as well. "It's time for you to retire to your room for the night. You will not be joining us for all meals, but I wanted to introduce you to my daughter tonight."

"Why? So I can see what a genuinely nice person you are actually?" slipped out of her mouth before she could stop it.

Anger flashed in his eyes before he controlled it. "I do have my moments, wouldn't you agree, Ms. Smoak? This way, please."

Felicity made a mental note to restrain her mouth. _Maybe I should wear a gag. Sewing my mouth shut…now that would be an effective but hardly practical, or wise, option in this instance._ Felicity stopped her thought babble as she continued to follow him to her room. _Seriously, though, it's never smart to make a man angry who can choke you in three seconds flat, should he so desire._ A shiver went down her back, as she decided to take a cleansing breath.

They reached her room, and Darhk only wished her a good night. As she entered and heard the door lock behind her, Felicity gave a heavy sigh as she made her way to her bed. As she laid down and began to cry, Felicity wondered if her life would ever be normal again.

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

"So, let me get this straight. The Green Arrow cannot go out on the streets, and most likely neither can Oliver Queen, but the rest of Team Arrow can?" Laurel asked. "How does that make sense?"

"I don't know. It's like he's trying to handicap us in our efforts, distract us even, but…."

"He's playing us, Oliver," Diggle interrupted. "I wish I knew why."

"Me too. There must be something at City Hall that the Mayor can only get to, that Darhk needs in his plans for Starling City." Picking up his Arrow phone, Oliver dialed Lance's number. "Captain, would you know if there are any hidden rooms or bunkers in the City Hall? Or anything that only the Mayor would have access to? Oh, okay. Let us know when you can."

Hanging up, Oliver sighed. "Nothing came to his mind, but he will somehow check into it and let us know. Dig, maybe you can pull up the City Hall blueprints and take another look. See if anything out of the ordinary jumps out at you."

Dig nodded, turning back to the computer to get to work.

 **AN: End of yet another chapter. A little bit closer to narrowing down what Darhk is up to. Or is it? Little by little. Please be kind and let me know how you're enjoying this story, and what you enjoyed. Always helps the Muse.**


	11. Chapter 11: Searching for Felicity

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this.

 **AN: Thanks for returning. Sorry it took so long. We are getting nearer to the end of this story though. I appreciate each and every one who is reading this, or any of my other stories as well. Just wanted to let you know. Now on for the show!**

Previously:

 _"_ _Me too. There must be something at City Hall that the Mayor can only get to, that Darhk needs in his plans for Starling City." Picking up his Arrow phone, Oliver dialed Lance's number. "Captain, would you know if there are any hidden rooms or bunkers in the City Hall? Or anything that only the Mayor would have access to? Oh, okay. Let us know when you can."_

 _Hanging up, Oliver sighed. "Nothing came to his mind, but he will somehow check into it and let us know. Dig, maybe you can pull up the City Hall blueprints and take another look. See if anything out of the ordinary jumps out at you."_

It took a while, but Lance called with the information they needed. Once he got off the phone, Oliver sat thinking in the office chair, leaning back with his fingers together.

"What did Dad say?" Laurel asked.

"Of course this is classified, but according to your father's source, there's a secure bunker hidden under City Hall. It has been there since the Cold War, and kept secret to everyone but the mayor of Starling City."

Dig sat himself down in front of the computers, pulling up the screen of the City Hall blueprints. "Did he get the specific location of it, by chance?"

Oliver nodded his head. "The source wasn't one hundred percent certain, but gave Lance the general area of it. So…" Pointing to an area in the northeast corner of the basement in City Hall, Oliver said, "Lance said it should be in this area right here."

"Now that we have the possible reason for him wanting his wife to be mayor, what is so special about that room that he had to maneuver things so to get access to it?" Diggle asked.

"That's the trillion-dollar question, isn't it? And something Darhk hoped we didn't find so that's why he kidnapped Felicity."

"Hello, Oliver. I think I may have an answer to that."

The lilting voice of his old friend John Constantine startled Oliver and the others from their discussion. As expected, the cavalier approach of John Constantine followed his voice from the elevator. Team Arrow watched as the man walked towards them, a jaunty smile on his face.

Surprised, by both his friend's appearance in general and how he had snuck down into the Lair, Oliver asked, "What are you up to now, Constantine?"

"Came to warn you, Mate." There was a warning tone underlying the forced lightness of his voice which made Oliver uncomfortable. Looking at the rest of the team, John nodded a hello to each one of them.

Oliver was hesitant but knew he had to ask, "About what?"

"Like I told you before, this guy Darhk is one dangerous fellow."

 _That figures it would be about Darhk._ "Do you have more info to give us?" _Now he wants to help? I wonder why now._

"Yes, plenty. I decided I better give you a heads up. You remember that idol the bloke on the island had? Darhk has it now."

"You mean, Baron Reiter? Darhk has _that_ idol?"

"Yes. I don't think you are aware of it, but Star City lies over a unique set of primordial forces. Makes it ripe to gain extraordinary powers, given the right equipment. And if a person knows where to look. Which unfortunately Darhk has."

The rest of the team exchanged glances, but wisely knew to keep silent and continue to listen to what Constantine had to tell them. They already had loads of questions, but like always, Oliver will explain what he could when he could.

"Why would that matter to Darhk? And what equipment would Darhk need for this?"

"To get more mystical power. For that, he'd need a huge sacrifice of lives happening as well, besides the idol."

"What do you mean?" Dig asked.

"What Star City is now known for…mega-disasters. I think he will somehow cause the death of thousands to amp up the sacrifice. As you know, Oliver, the idol transforms the life force of murdered souls into mystical power."

Oliver closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, attempting to stave off the headache threatening to form between his temples. He was not liking what he was hearing. Too many unpleasant memories from the island were already rolling inside his head.

Oliver opened his eyes and looked at Dig. "Dig, why don't you pull up a map of these primordial forces and overlay that with the map of the city."

The rest of them waited while Diggle did this, Constantine with a knowing smile on his face. Dig suddenly yelled, "Gotcha! Lookie here," and the rest looked over his shoulder. "Yep, it looks like the forces all combine into the area where we thought that bunker was at City Hall."

"So you were thinking Darhk will gather there to get the forces one of these nights?" Oliver asked. When Constantine nodded, Oliver asked, "Would you by chance have an idea as to when this would be?"

"According to my calendar, it will be in a week. I imagine he has that bunker ready, with his idol in place, and an idea on how to destroy the city to get the deaths he needs."

Looking at his old friend, Oliver asked, "What do you recommend we do?"

"Relocating."

"I enjoy your dry wit as much as any other person, but now is not the time for it." Oliver glared at John.

Constantine nodded. "Yeah, I know. You, my friend, are unfortunately too much of a hero to run away."

"You know I hate being called a hero."

"I only call them like I see them, Oliver." Constantine sat down and put his feet up on the desk. With Oliver's scowl, he put them down reluctantly. "Seriously, though, I think you need some help in getting this guy."

Oliver scoffed. "I agree. Especially now that he's holding Felicity hostage."

"The cute petite blond spitfire? That's not good, mate."

"No, it isn't. He threatened her life if the Green Arrow is seen anywhere within the next three weeks."

"So…he keeps you essentially locked up, or preoccupied with looking for your sweetie, while he is able to pull this off." He continued, with a grimace, "After giving you a time limit of three weeks to throw you off. Make you think you have more time than you actually have."

"Why does he need so much of this so-called mystic energy?"

"To control the world." At Oliver's look of disbelief, John shook his head. "What else do most of these mega-criminals think they want."

"Have you ever met Darhk yourself?"

"No, I believe he doesn't know me at all. So…I suppose I could be your feet in searching for your blondie."

"Once we figure out where she might be, and how exactly he'll carry out this plan of his, then we can move."

"You know, Mate, I'll have to use my dreaded magic on him. You don't mind, do you? I know what you usually think of it…."

"Since I've been on the wrong end of that magic of his, I've decided we need all the help we can get to beat Darhk. He's just too dangerous to allow him to run free. And if he's planning on killing thousands of people…we just can't let that happen."

"Okay, then, let's get our heads together and come up with how we'll get rid of this troublemaker for you," Constantine said with a cheeky grin. "Since he uses magic, and he's not that easy to kill, I could do that for you, if you like. Then we don't have to worry about finding how he might kill thousands of people." Quirking an eyebrow, Constantine said, "We can just skip that part then."

Oliver considered his offer and was about to speak when Laurel interrupted.

"Well, you say you're one of the world's best sorcerers, so can't you…I don't know…conjure the address of where Felicity is at?" Laurel looked at the man. "Then we can rescue her and stop him before he gets even close to putting his idea into motion. That way we don't have to worry about stopping the plan." Looking at Oliver, Laurel said, "I know you've been trying not to kill people, but…"

"But if he's planning some sort of disaster, we need to get rid of him any way we can. And if that means to kill him…." Oliver sighed.

John gave Laurel a cocky smile. "You are smart as well as beautiful. Of course, Oliver always said you were."

Laurel persisted, in her lawyer way. "You didn't exactly answer my question. So, can you use your powers to locate Felicity? And kill Darhk?"

"I can't always guarantee it will work for sure, but I will certainly try to find her. Most of the time I am able to find the person I'm looking for." Turning serious, he added, "Taking care of evil people is what I do. And unlike my mate here, I have no qualms in killing the bad guy." Heading towards the elevator, John yelled back. "Don't worry guys. We'll find your blonde spitfire. And save your city."

Again, as he turned towards his team, Oliver rolled his eyes and received smiles in return.

After a moment, Roy asked, "Who is this Baron Reiter anyway?"

Oliver sighed.

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

Team Arrow spent the time honing its skills. Laurel and Roy were working out. Diggle was cleaning his handguns while attempting to run searches looking for Felicity, and Oliver was attempting to focus his attention on making new arrowheads.

Finally, Constantine returned, breezing into the Lair once again without warning, getting off the elevator.

"Maybe you should tell me how you bypass our security measures, so I can have Felicity fix that," Oliver said.

"Don't worry, mate. I'm the only one capable of bypassing your security in the way I do." He gave Oliver a smile. "Now don't go overboard with your enthusiasm in seeing me again."

"I don't want to embarrass you with my emotionality," Oliver retorted dryly. "Were you able to locate Felicity?"

"Yep, I'm happy to report my sorcery skills were able to give me the address. Here it is," he said, handing Oliver a piece of paper.

The rest of the team gathered around. Roy asked, "So what's our plan?"

"I'm going to take on the big kahuna Darhk himself, while Oliver rescues Felicity, who's being held in the house somewhere."

"You weren't able to narrow it down to a specific room?" Oliver asked, deciding to give him a little ribbing.

"Oliver, tsk. You know my magic doesn't quite work like that. But I do believe she is on the first floor. It is a rambler-style house, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find her."

"What should the rest of us do?" Diggle asked.

"I think surrounding the house and taking care of any HIVE characters he might have guarding the place should do it. Neither Oliver nor I need any interference screwing up our action inside."

Diggle was about to give a retort, but Oliver caught his eye. He nodded instead, saying, "Okay, let's get started planning this in greater detail. We all agree, I think, we need to rescue Felicity as soon as possible."

Oliver nodded his thanks to his friend. "Yes, I agree. The sooner we get Felicity out, and stop Darhk, the sooner I can breathe again."

John slapped Oliver on the shoulder, then left his arm there and guided him towards the conference table. "I agree. The sooner we get your pretty girlfriend back, the better. The auras of this city need to be cleansed of his evil presence once and for all."

 **AN: Yeah, I basically know Constantine only from his appearance on Arrow, so I deeply apologize if I got his powers wrong. I tried to do some research, but it didn't feel right. So I guess I'll just claim artistic license here and apologize to any Constantine fans. I like to think I got his personality and his wise cracks correctly, though. I really do enjoy that part of him. Ha.**

 **And as I add and revise this, I came up with Laurel being the one to ask about killing Darhk. I suddenly realized how fitting this is, with him killing her in canon and all. (I really, really hate that part of season 4). So this ends up a story redeeming season four. Ha. At least what I like to think. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if you're feeling especially kind, please let me know what you think. Especially if it all worked for you.**


	12. Chapter 12: Rescuing Felicity

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I'm only borrowing them for a while. I own the original ideas found in this.

 **AN: Oops, I was so excited about posting the last chapter…even though I discovered I hadn't posted chapter 10 yet (oops)…I didn't give a clue that this would be the last chapter.**

 **I really do appreciate everyone who has read, or especially stuck with this story. It hasn't been one of my more popular stories, but that happens. Anyway, here's the rescue and ending. Hope you enjoy it, and let me know what you think. Always, always appreciated.**

Previously:

 _"_ _I think surrounding the house and taking care of any HIVE characters he might have guarding the place should do it. Neither Oliver nor I need any interference screwing up our action inside."_

 _Diggle was about to give a retort, but Oliver caught his eye. He nodded instead, saying, "Okay, let's get started planning this in greater detail. We all agree, I think, we need to rescue Felicity as soon as possible."_

 _Oliver nodded his thanks to his friend. "Yes, I agree. The sooner we get Felicity out, and stop Darhk, the sooner I can breathe again."_

 _John slapped Oliver on the shoulder, then left his arm there and guided him towards the conference table. "I agree. The sooner we get your pretty girlfriend back, the better. The auras of this city need to be cleansed of his evil presence once and for all."_

The team began to plan in earnest. Since they were one member short, Diggle suggested he ask Lyla to cover Overwatch for them. He left to call her while the rest continued to plan. Constantine filled them in on the rest of the details he was able to glean from his "psychic" tour of Darhk's house.

Oliver raised an eyebrow. "You can do that as well? Actually see the surroundings?"

"Not very often. It takes a lot out of me, so that's why we're going to have to carry out the plan tomorrow evening and not tonight. Besides, I did get information that the entire family will be home tomorrow night as well."

Oliver shook his head. Sometimes he was glad Constantine didn't leave in Starling, exposing Oliver to his way of life on a regular basis. It made his head hurt when he considered the unbelievable things Constantine often experienced and did.

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

Team Arrow plus two headed to the house in question. Dig had asked Lyla if she'd act as Overwatch, which she gladly agreed to. Taking the word of Constantine, who reported there were three guards walking the perimeter, with Darhk and two guards in the house on the first floor. Ruve Adams and their daughter were in the basement suite.

Oliver, Barry, and Constantine hung back and watched as Dig, Thea and Laurel approach the house from separate directions. Within five minutes all three had reported knocking out one of the guards. By this time, Lyla had reported she had turned off the surveillance alarms around Darhk's house. Dig and Laurel headed to the basement while Thea stood guard.

Oliver looked at Barry and nodded. Barry spun off to the room set up as Darhk's office. He located the safe, opened it and snatched the poison. Confirming he had it, Barry then sped off to STAR labs. Dig then reported to the group that unfortunately Ruve and her daughter had seemingly escaped through a secret tunnel leading from the basement to parts unknown.

Constantine looked at Oliver, who nodded, indicating it was time for their part of the mission. They entered the side door by the kitchen. Constantine nodded to the left, which led to a long hallway with rooms off of it, all its doors closed. He turned to the right and slowly walked to the living room.

After hearing Constantine begin to engage Darhk in battle, Oliver rushed through the back hallway of the house yelling Felicity's name, stopping at a door from which he heard her calling.

"Get away from the door, Felicity. I'll get you out of there in a sec." He took an exploding arrow from his quiver, nocked his bow, and released it. In a burst of flame and fire, the door knob and lock fell out of the door, and Oliver was able to kick it open. Looking around he went around the bed to assist Felicity up from the floor and fling himself into Felicity's open arms.

"I wasn't sure if I was ever going to see you again!" Oliver breathed out in relief.

Felicity started pulling at his arm frantically. "Let's get out of here, Oliver! Darhk is going…."

"Yes, we know. Constantine is fighting him now in the living room. Unfortunately, his wife and daughter escaped through a hidden tunnel in the basement."

"What about the virus?"

"Barry was able to get into the safe, and zoomed it straight to STAR labs for them to destroy right away."

Felicity then allowed Oliver to pull her out of the room and head for the living room, where sounds of the altercation could still be heard.

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

Constantine faced his new enemy without any fear, lightly bouncing on his feet like a boxer, ready for anything his rival may pull. "Don't worry, mate. Oliver has told me all about you."

"You think so, Aussie, you think so." Damien raised his hand and John suddenly found himself flying through the air. However, John was able to stop mid-air and float gently to the ground.

"Good but not good enough." John raised his right hand and just as quickly Darhk found himself crashing through the living room window. Before John could celebrate any type of victory, Darhk had flown right back into the living room to again stand in front of John.

"And I say not good enough either," Darhk said as he levitated a bookcase and threw it at John.

John was able to stop it mid-flight and have it crash in a separate corner. He pulled a sword out of his trench coat pocket and came at Darhk. Darhk raised his hand in order to stop John, but this time John was able to continue walking towards him.

"I'm using a different spell on you, mate," he said as he thrusted the sword into Darhk's chest, taking Darhk by surprise. His eyes widening as he realized he was dying, Darhk attempted to say something. However all he could do was mumble something, then was gone.

Oliver and Felicity entered the living room just as Darhk breathed his last. Felicity looked at shock at Darhk's dead body then back at John. "How...how did you do that?"

"Magic, darling, magic." He walked over to Felicity, placed his hands on her shoulders, looked her up and down. He sighed with a satisfactory smile. "Glad to see you are in one piece, Blondie. Sure would hate to see anything happen to you, since you are one fine example of a Woman."

Felicity pulled herself out of his grasp. "I don't know if I should be complimented or offended by such a sexist statement."

Oliver shook his head. "Felicity, that's just John. He really is harmless."

John gave Felicity a wink. "Unless I catch you in a dark corner alone, darling."

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Come on, jerk. Leave my woman alone. Let's leave this pop stand."

Felicity nodded her head. "I couldn't agree more. Let's get out of here. I want to see my own home." Once inside the van, driven by Diggle, she turned in her seat to John, sitting in the back. "I do wish to thank you for your help in rescuing me. I know we do have much to thank you for."

"Aw shucks, ma'am, it was nothing," John said in a fake Southern accent. Oliver slugged him, and the grin fell off John's face. "Okay, I'll get serious. Felicity, I'm happy I could assist you and Oliver. As I told you the last time, I do have much to be grateful regarding Oliver. So…that's why I helped him." Turning to look at Oliver, John added, "However…."

"Yeah, I know. This makes us even." Looking at Felicity Oliver said, "Hopefully this is the last time I deal with magic and your realm of things."

Placing a hand on Oliver's shoulder, John said, "In all seriousness, if you do need me again, just call. No more of this calling in favors…if you need help, I'll be there. If I can."

"I appreciate it." Giving him a nod, Oliver added, "Same goes for you, if you need me, just call."

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

After dropping Constantine at the train station, Oliver looked at Felicity, who suddenly found her shoes interesting. He didn't know what was going on in her mind, what she could possibly want to do regarding their situation.

"I can't believe what has all happened to us in the past month, Oliver."

"I know."

Suddenly, Felicity found herself facing Oliver, her chin lightly being raised so she could look into his eyes. "I was so worried about you I almost couldn't stand it."

"Oliver, I…"

He slanted his head and caught her lips in a passionate kiss. At first, her hands found their way to his chest, to push him away, but then…

Oliver reluctantly ended the kiss and pulled away. "After that kiss, can you still say you didn't miss me either?"

"It's just not that simple, Oliver. I still love you, but whether I should trust you again…."

"Like I told you before, just let me show you. Let me earn your trust. I'll continue to sleep on the couch. Just don't move out. The loft is as much yours as mine."

Felicity considered his words, as well as considered the man in front of him. Someone, she wasn't sure who, had said Oliver was a very complicated, high-maintenance man. Indeed he was. But…he wasn't someone a woman could easily get out of their system either. She had been very hurt by his actions, but was she truly ready to give up on him?

She sighed as she cupped his cheek. "Oliver Queen, I am willing to give this another try. As long as you are as well. As long as you are totally, 150% in." After thinking for a second, she added with a smile, "And provided there aren't any more illegitimate children you haven't told me about."

Holding up his hand, palm up, Oliver said with a smile, "I swear, I know no other illegitimate children."

Felicity grabbed his arm and they walked towards the car…together.

 **AN: Well, I am calling this story done. For better or worse. The ending was probably lackluster in its quickness, but…Darhk just didn't grab my imagination like the other villains of Arrow have. I needed to finish this story though. I don't ever want to leave a story undone. And I also apologize for perhaps cutting the story short and going for the quick and easy ending, so to speak. My Muse suddenly decided she was tired of Darhk, and didn't really understand him. So…yeah, I thought it was a somewhat satisfying ending anyway.**

 **And, I suppose, I went the "pulling something out of thin air" and enhanced Constantine's abilities to ensure the team's success in rescuing Felicity. I don't know enough about Constantine to know for sure. Oh well. Luckily, I've never reached that far from reality before in my other stories. So I appreciate your extending fictional license to this story and accepting things within its frame of reality.**

 **I want to thank all of the readers who have stuck with this, even if they are not leaving reviews. Thanks for checking it out, and if you are feeling adventurous please check out my other stories. Some of them are quite good, I believe. And if you really want to make me smile, leave me a review. Thanks!**


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